John has over 20 years of experience working as a leader across Public Services. Initially trained as a psychological therapist John went on to set up a drop-in and therapy centre for homeless people in Liverpool before moving on to leading community mental health services across Lancashire for the NHS. John has worked as part of the devolution of Health and Care across Greater Manchester since its inception in 2016 working on a number of areas addressing the reform of public services and the leadership and cultural challenges of implementing the GM Mayor’s vision for a One Workforce approach and integration. John led on the commitment across Greater Manchester to address Race Equality across the entire public service workforce (police, fire, health and local authorities) and commissioned the work to create change in experience and outcome for racially diverse groups in public services – this was the first project of its kind in the UK.John sits on both the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter Board and the Real Living Wage Board supporting health and care organisations to improve their employment practices ensuring good work and proper pay for staff.Outside of his public service roles John is the Chair of Abandon Normal Devices – an arts charity based in the North of England who champion experimental art, disrupting received notions of what an arts organisation and festival should be. John is also a singer songwriter with two albums to his name and has worked in partnership with Unconvention raising awareness of the unique mental health challenges artists experience.John was overwhelmed to receive the Greater Manchester Leader of the Year (2024) GM Good Employment Awards - which he dedicated to the fantastic team he is blessed to work with. He also been nominated for 2025 North West Public and 3rd Sector Leader of the Year by The Business Desk.