In March of 2008, John completed the Directors Education Program developed and offered jointly by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.   The program, designed to build competencies deemed necessary to be an effective Director, reviews governance expectations and promotes best practices in the boardroom. This highly interactive 12-day program incorporates roundtable discussions, case studies and on-point insights from leading academic thinkers, experts in the field of board behaviours and executives-in-residence.  John has also completed the Rotman/ICD course on Financial Literarcy for Directors.

Directorships and advisory board memberships are the principal vehicles by which John brings his counsel to companies.

John is a member of the Board of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, serving on the Executive Committee and chairing the Governance Committee.  Prior board service includes the University of Waterloo Accelerator Centre (ex-officio), the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council, the Canadian Society of New York, and Friends of McGill University (US fundraising arm).  He was President of the Canadian Club of Chicago.  John also participated as a Director in the transformation of the Canadian Businessmen’s Association of Japan to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

John currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council at Wilfrid Laurier University’s School of Business and Economics in Waterloo.

John is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors which has granted John its ICD.D professional certification.