John serves as Executive Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra based in Petoskey. The Orchestra produces live orchestral music that is performed throughout northern Michigan.

Born in Cheboygan, MI, but raised in Indiana, John has always had a connection to northern Michigan as his family vacationed in the Mullett Lake area. His parents eventually retired UP North and so the connection to the region continued and eventually he moved to help care for his mother.

The meandering path to living in Petoskey includes a career of executive retail management with locations in Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, and Colorado. In 1999 John took the step into non-profit work and joined a Nebraska based health system as a fundraiser and then in 2004 moved north as Executive Director of Northern Michigan Hospital Foundation. The meandering path also includes many experiences of serving on boards for various social service agencies, arts organizations, and business partnerships with schools in every community in which he has lived. He is a Rotarian, since 1994, serving in local club and district capacities. He also serves as Treasurer of the C.S. Lewis Festival, and is Clerk of Session at First Presbyterian Church of Harbor Springs.

Along the way, John has grown in faith and today he also serves as Volunteer Ministry Director at First Presbyterian Church of Harbor Springs and has growing interest and passion for developing Men's Ministries. As the experiences of life increase John has learned that servant leadership is of high importance and his personal mission statement is - God has called me to be a Christ-centered, missional person that proclaims the Word of God and demonstrates the relevance of His word to all people.