John currently serves as the Chairman of the World Trade Centers Association’s Committee on Peace and Stability Through Trade. In that year he initiated and secured a license for the World Trade Center in Okinawa, where he served as the Executive Director and Director of Operations. In that capacity he recruited and trained the staff, organized programs, and negotiated working relationships with local governments and trade organizations. He was instrumental in developing an innovative and highly successful ceramic tile ‘buying-syndicate’ in the Okinawa Free Trade Zone and negotiated agreements with manufacturers in Italy and Spain.

 

He is deeply committed to finding ways of helping developing countries around the world through the vehicles of business and education. John has been active in a broad range of non-profit and business organizations such as:

• Chairman, China Society

• Founding Council Member, Native American Leadership Alliance for Reconciliation and Peace •

• Vice President, Afghan Development and Reconstruction Group

• Chairman, Committee on Education for the Refugee and Immigrant

• Consortium of Orego

 

Prior to his work at the WTCA, John taught and served as the Vice President of the American University Extension, Okinawa. During his tenure he reorganized the Extension replacing staff, writing new policy, creating a distance-learning system and many international student programs. He also negotiated several ‘sister-institution’ agreements between U.S. and Japanese universities

John has been active in a broad range of not-for-profit business and civic organizations.