John founded the Pennslvania Legislative Exchange (PLE) with his project partner, Jonathan Perman, at the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics this year.
Previously, he served in leadership positions at the Bipartisan Policy Center for more than 13 years, most recently as director of BPC's Governing and Civics Project. John led a suite of initiatives designed to improve the functioning of Congress, including the American Congressional Exchange Program (ACE) established in 2018. Under ACE, members of Congress from opposing parties are paired to visit each other's districts, to build bonds of trust and relationships that enable cross-party policymaking. Since 2022 alone, ACE has resulted in 19 original sponsorships of legislation, 16 co-sponsorships, and four bills signed into law.
Prior to his tenure at BPC, John worked for nearly 23 years for US Representative and later US Senator Olympia Snowe, serving as speechwriter, deputy legislative director, and nine years as chief of staff. He supported Sen. Snowe as she earned a 74% vote total for re-election in 2006, at that time the highest for any Senator running for re-election against a major party candidate. As senior strategist and team leader for an exceptionally active bipartisan Senator, John was directly engaged in every major legislative initiative before Congress including the Troubled Asset Relief Program, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and healthcare reform.
John is currently managing director of Lansdowne Strategies DC, which he founded in 2026. Lansdowne builds on his unique blend of legislative know-how, relationship building skill, and bipartisan credibility to provide strategic government relations to navigate Washington, build cross-party coalitions, and drive public policy.
John, who lives in northern Virginia, is a native of the greater Boston area and earned his B.A. in Political Science from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.