STRATEGIC

LEADERSHIP

INSTITUTE

   John B. Savage, Executive Director    

John has been involved with various aspects of leadership formation for over 25 years. He began his career in financial services which led to a specialty in Gift Planning and then non-profit executive leadership and management. Since 1994, he has been consulting with leaders in education, non-profit, pastoral, and family business environments.  He focuses his consulting on Executive Coaching and Strategic Development of Vision, Organizational Capacity, and Funding.

During his career he was appointed to chair United Way’s Hispanic Leadership Institute, produced a mentor/protégé audio training, a stewardship audio training, and hosted Leadership Lifestyles, a daily radio program which featured interviews with Christians in leadership.

He received a B.S. in Physics from Denison University (Ohio), with a minor in Latin American Studies, and an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University (California).  His clients have represented entrepreneurial start-ups to organizations celebrating their 100^th anniversary. Developing the strategies, funding and leadership to support programmatic growth and improvement is a specialty.

On the personal side, John has always held an interest in helping and understanding various cultures. This first began when his family ventured to South America to serve as “missionaries” in support of the SS HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere), based in Cartagena, Columbia to provide international medical relief and education.

Throughout high school and college he was involved in numerous domestic and international volunteer missions, primarily in the Southwest portions of the United States and in Mexico and Central America. Early in his professional career he dedicated countless weekends to lead a two-year effort that culminated in the construction of an orphanage (La Casa de Los Niños) in Maneadero, Mexico. One particular joy of serving as the former chairman of this six-church alliance is that the project continues to successfully serve children and families today.

Based in the Seattle area, John is a Consulting Vice President with The Frank Group and serves as a City Planning Commissioner.  He reads and writes about his stewardship and leadership principles as Managing Editor of the national newsletter BoardWise.   

Evidence of his passion to see new generations of Christians in Leadership is manifest in his role as Board Chair for Des Moines Creek Academy, a K-12 classical Christian school, which he founded.  DMCA students and friends enhance their leadership skills through Cascade Expeditions, an outdoor summer venue for camping and backpacking.  High School Juniors at DMCA, and other emerging leaders throughout the nation, may find themselves enrolled in one of four Certificate in Leadership Programs through Strategic Leadership Institute, which John also founded to help cultivate, equip and connect the next generation of Christian leaders.

John and his wife, Nancy, have two children and live in Des Moines, Washington where they enjoy boating, fishing, sailing, and other outdoor frivolities and foods of the northwest.