John Potts Email & Phone Number

Stillwater, Mn

YoungLife in the St. Croix Valley/Stillwater is on a mission to bring hope to the students of this community. When Students come to YoungLife, sometimes it’s the first time someone has looked them in the eye and been genuinely happy to see them all week. The sense of belonging at Young Life is evident as students let their unique personalities shine and give voice to their untold stories. Our outreach through Young Life, Young Lives(ministry to young teen moms), Wyldlife(middle school ministry), Capernaum(ministry to students that have cognitive or physical challenges), and Realife(ministry to students that live in the margins of our community) are built on proven models of effectiveness—we’re Christ-centered, first and foremost. At YoungLife, students know they’ll be loved, accepted, and supported no matter what.

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Deliver curriculum to students and provide supervision in year-long ministry internships. Providing instruction in youth ministry and general ministry and leadership.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Direct full-scope foundation operations including financial administration, strategic planning, board development and staff leadership.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Spearheaded daily operations for $14M organization comprised of three ministries (YouthWorks, Youth Specialties, BigStuf Camps), 86 permanent employees and 400 seasonal staff members.Planned, orchestrated and delivered tools, training, events, camps and mission trip experiences to 50,000 students in three countries. Functioned as an integral member of executive leadership team and two boards (Real Resources and Real Resources Foundation). Collaboratively and steadily expanded organization from 5 to 86 employees, and championed efforts to propel revenues from $700K to over $14M. Skyrocketed number of youth served from 700 students in 1996 to over 50,000 annually across the United States and Canada by 2014.Solicited and secured participation of 1,800 churches for YouthWorks ministries. Coordinated two national conventions for youth workers attended by 7,000 adults.Organized Spanish language training for 10,000 adults in Central and South America and Spain.Seamlessly guided organization through two acquisitions and reorganizations.Joined forces with seven other ministries to establish an insurance company which insured $1B in assets.Built infrastructure to support large ministry teams and controlled $1.4M food budget, vendor management, three CRM databases tracking 61,000 churches, and a fleet of 120 vehicles.Successfully launched and managed YouthWorks/Real Resources Foundation which grew to have assets exceeding $8M. Created Human Resources Handbook, established 401(k) program, and oversaw legal and intellectual property involving 990 applications.Fostered an atmosphere of safety resulting in <1% of program participants submitting insurance claims.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Initiated partnerships with schools and teen centers to expand student reach for mentoring, guidance and field education.Pioneered cooperative program between Bethel and Luther seminaries on youth ministries which reduced expenses by providing multi-denominational training.

Edina, Minnesota

Headed efforts to increase average youth group attendance by 40% on weekly basis. Established junior high camp serving 250 kids in first year and realizing consistent growth each subsequent year.

Doctor Of Ministry, Organizational Leadership

Master’S Degree, Divinity, Christian Education/Youth Ministry

Activities and Societies: Youth Leadership Graduate

Ba, Economics/History

Activities and Societies: Sigma ChiSigma Chi Fraternity

A.A., General Studies

Activities and Societies: President of the Student Body Board Trustee of the Governing Board of Martin Methodist College.