John Ott

John Ott, JD

John has designed and facilitated successful statewide, regional, and countywide change efforts for over 30 years. This work has included designing comprehensive systems transformations, resolving  major budget shortfalls, and improving outcomes of community well-being.

 

He has consulted with foundations; state, county, and local governments; local schools and schools districts; small businesses and a multi-national corporation; and myriad non-profit and community-based organizations.

 

Early in his career John was a faculty member at Duke University, helping launch the Hart Leadership Program there. He also started and led several non-profit organizations and worked as a community organizer. 

John's life's work has been deeply inspired  by his experience of being homeless for much of his adolescence. The support he received from key adults during this time helped him chart a very different life path than might otherwise have been possible. This early experience of compassion and community continues to motivate him. 

 

John holds a BA in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and a JD from Stanford Law School. He is co-author of The Power of Collective Wisdom and the Trap of Collective Folly, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2009, and Centered on the Edge, published by the Fetzer Institute in 2001.