Over the last 30 years John has been a practitioner, researcher, writer, teacher, and speaker on how organizations and people can achieve change together. For 17 years, he ran FSG, a nonprofit consulting firm and think tank working globally across issues and sectors to support social and environmental changemakers. From 2018 to 2020, he served as an Executive-in-Residence at national venture philanthropy New Profit, co-leading the launch of a systems change practice.

John has been a field leader in innovating practices related to Collective Impact, Systems Change, Catalytic Philanthropy and community foundation sustainability. He is a co-author of the ground-breaking Stanford Social Innovation Review articles "Collective Impact" and "The Dawn of System Leadership," among other works, as well as the book Do More than Give: The Six Practices of Donors Who Change the World. John speaks frequently around the world on accelerating social impact.

Prior to joining FSG, John was a partner at the consulting firms Mercer Management Consulting and Corporate Decisions, Inc. where he developed growth strategies for companies. He began his professional career at Leo Burnett Company, a global advertising agency.

John lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts with his wife Holly. He has three grown children.