John Newsome

Education: MBA; MA in Modern Thought & Literature; BA in Spanish Literature from Stanford University

Recent projects include: Planned Parenthood Federation of America, The Obama Foundation, PBLWorks, MIT CoLab, The Sherwood and Kiewit Foundations (Omaha equity initiative), Kilometro Cero, Seattle Foundation, Two Feathers Native American Family Services, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Personal interests include: yoga, cycling, wine

John Newsome is the founder of Public Equity Group, and has been a strategy and management consultant since 2001, including four years (2001-2005) at the Bridgespan Group (consultant, management team member) and affiliations with numerous other firms.

John has taken two hiatuses from consulting: From 2009-11, John’s consulting took him in-house at the Global Business Coalition on Health, where as Vice President of US Initiatives he led innovative public-private partnerships between multinational companies (e.g., Chevron, L’Oreal, Levi-Strauss, Pfizer, Brinks) and public partners (e.g., the White House, CDC, DC). Likewise, in 2005-06, John’s work with a Bridgespan client led him to the Oakland Public Schools, where he served in the District’s chief of staff role. 

Concurrent with consulting, John has led notable side projects. In 2016, John co-founded Fight for a Better America, a federal super PAC that funded successful, grassroots, voter engagement campaigns that flipped US Congressional districts from red to blue. And from 2004 to 2009, John led “…And Castro for All” as well as “…And Marriage for All”, prominent initiatives focused on LGBT equality, and racial & economic justice, in California.

Prior to consulting, John served on the management team of the Center for Third World Organizing, and as Press Secretary to US Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA).

John is a 1990 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow and holds an MBA, an MA in Modern Thought & Literature (with a focus on fascism and colonialism), a BA in Spanish Literature, and a Spanish fluency certification from Stanford University. After 15 years in Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn, in 2021 he relocated to Newburgh NY (2 hours north) where he gardens and teaches a free Monday night yoga class.