John is the program director for the High Resolves Initiative, a community service initiative started and funded by Alchemy Growth Partners.  He comes to High Resolves after nearly eight years of service as a professional educator at the secondary level, in United States public schools and the Catholic school system in Australia.  In all his teaching work, he has striven to help his students develop their moral capacity along with their intellectual capacity. 

John earned a Bachelor of Science with majors in Secondary Education, English, and Cognitive Studies from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1998.  In 2005, he earned a Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences, also at Vanderbilt, with a thesis focusing on masculine morality in four American novels.

In promoting his interest in moral education for youth, John has led and facilitated a number of programs.  In 2001, he and two friends started the Nashville Youth Service Program, a series of monthly service projects for 13-18 year olds designed to help them put spiritual principles from a variety of faiths into practise. 

John’s dedication to his students’ achievement in the classroom earned him recognition as teacher of the year at Ravenwood High School, in Brentwood, Tennessee, and his professional development and leadership led to his selection as that school’s English Department Chair for the 2004-05 academic year.