John Cowan Email & Phone Number

Seattle, Wa, Us

Mangroves are vital for healthy coastal ecosystems in many regions of the world and research and studies are revealing the unique importance of these habitats to the planet. The Mangrove Action Project is dedicated to reversing the degradation and loss of mangrove forest wetlands and their associated coastal ecosystems worldwide. Its main goal is to promote the rights of traditional and indigenous coastal peoples, including fishers and farmers, to sustainably manage their coastal environs.Worked with the Executive Director to help document the stories of communities that were destroyed by the wholesale destruction of mangrove forests for commercial fish and shrimp farming. Used these stories to help create awareness building programs for communities on the line and at risk of being exploited. Additionally, helped secure funding to microfinance the development of small business enterprises that were in harmony with the mangrove forests e.g., honey production, fish habitat tourism, storm surge protection.

Responsibility for a $3.5M annual operating budget and include but are not limited to: HR, facilities, and community relations. In this role I have turned around five consecutive years of operational losses, declining reserves, and staff and community morale. The institution has operated in the black since my arrival in this position, I have restructured the stewardship program to be largely online and improved our major donor management. Additionally, to build community I have created a storytellers guild with an aim to capture the stories of the members of the community - old and young - for teaching and to restore our kinship with each other. This restoration leads to greater levels of tenderness toward one another, builds compassion and enables deeper listening. The margins of the circle can expand when we see the other as a person and not an object (old person, single mother, teenager, unemployed, etc.)

Serve as a research Fellow for the Center as it sponsors academic studies aimed at connecting global religious wisdom with challenging social issues in the hopes of developing new ways of addressing social challenges today (homelessness, eviction, environmental stewardship, health-care access and affordability). Engaged with others to listen to the stories of those most excluded; worked with team to build awareness and capacity within the local NGO and church communities most often tasked with helping the marginalized.

Chicago, Illinois, Us

Optimatics is a world leader in creating value through water systems optimization. The company was established in 1996 by a group of engineers who utilized the potential of Genetic Algorithms (GAs) to revolutionize the optimization of water systems. Optimatics provides consulting, software and computer processing solutions that enable water industry decision makers to optimize the planning, operation and management of their water and wastewater systems.As North American Operations Director and Interim CEO I was responsible for North American and UK P&L, sales and marketing strategy development and implementation and oversight of all projects and contracts. In early 2011 the Board decided to convert the company from an engineering consulting services business that used its own proprietary software to a software company that sold cloud based simulation modeling software to water and wastewater clients. I was asked to develop and implement the conversion. In this role I worked with the CTO and other executives in the company to develop and implement a go-to-market plan for selling software. I also oversaw the transition of our consulting services contracts with some of our longer-term and repeat clients to software contracts that included a services component. The transition was completed in late 2012 with the hiring of a new CEO from the software industry. The company continues to be a growing leader in water optimization modeling software, its decision to transition out of consulting to direct software sales has proven to be the right one as the sale and use of their software has increased significantly.

Canton, Ohio, Us

Led the development, construction and operational start-up of an Australian owned technology company who revolutionized the process of recycling used transformer oils in a zero-emissions refinery. This included identifying a site to build a full-scale process plant (re-refinery). This required securing property, obtaining permits, contracting for all the design and construction services required to build and commission the plant. Additionally I worked with the city engineers to build out new roads and rail to service the facility. The process being introduced was novel in that it was able to non-destructively remove all chlorinated compounds from oils, including PCB's. The target market was the used transformer oil market in the US because many of the older transformers being taken out of service had residual PCB's that forced them to be incinerated. To enable the company to treat PCB's and other chlorinated organics at their plant required that it be permitted by the EPA. I oversaw the permitting process and was able to secure for the company a Headquarters permit rather than a region specific permit. I also lead the development of their sales and marketing plan and successfully grew their operations from a staff of 2 working from a local Starbucks coffee house to a staff of over 25. This $20million state-of-the-art re-refinery using patented technology to re-refine used transformers oil was able to meet the rigorous specifications established by the electric power industry as well as the environmental community. The sales and marketing plan was able to secure trade agreements for the purchase of used oil and sale of finished product for 100% of the first two year's of production.

Canton, Ohio, Us

Speciality refiner serving the electric power industry.

Chantilly, Virginia, Us

Global Engineering Construction Company serving water and oil and gas clients worldwide

Sustainable Project Management (SPM) is a not-for-profit international development agency established in 1994 to implement outcomes from the 1992 Earth Summit. SPM aims to create locally owned public-private partnerships that operate commercially viable businesses to provide improved waste, water and energy services for developing communities. Registered in Switzerland with offices in Geneva and the Philippines, SPM is also represented in France, New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia.SPM was created to help identify, design and structure "eco-efficient" business projects in the US$3 - 50 million investment range, including;• Energy – Industrial Environment Service Companies• Urban or Industrial Energy Management – Operating Companies• Urban and Rural Water Management – Operating Companies• Urban and Rural Waste Management – Operating Companies• Capacity Building Centres for Environmental Management – Operating CompaniesMy role was to build donor relations in the Asia-Pacific region and identify project opportunities using a people-centered approach to project development. This involved months of listening to communities talk about their lived experience, and accepting discomfort. This focus on relationship building first led to our success in both identifying the means to solve water, waste, and energy challenges and to do this with the full support of the community being served. An unexpected outcome was the creation of community leaders who took project ownership and served to protect their projects from aid-scavengers.

Midland, Michigan, Us

Oil and gas service company providing development services to oil and gas exploration companies operating in the Rocky Mountain states.

Master’S Degree, Theology/Transformational Leadership

Graduate Certificate, Organizational Leadership

Chmm, Hazardous Materials Management

Agricultural Science And Plant Pathology

Bs, Botany