JOHN BROTHERS - PRINCIPAL 

John has nearly twenty years experience in the public sector ranging from human services and poverty to education and the arts. He is a highly sought after non-profit consultant who has raised millions of dollars in grants and private donations for non-profit organizations throughout his career. John has been teaching non-profit management on the University level for over 5 years at such highly acclaimed schools as New York University and George Mason University. John gravitated toward non-profit work as a result of his experiences growing up in poverty and homelessness as a child in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is driven by the desire to assist the types of organizations that enabled him to overcome the disadvantages of poverty.

John’s consulting career developed from the numerous requests he received to share his experience and expertise in the field of non-profit management and organizational development. John began JEB Consulting in 1997 (now Cuidiu Consulting); an endeavor aimed at assisting national and local non-profits, and federal, state, and local government agencies with program and organizational development.  One such early effort included a contract with the DC Public School system to develop and organize an office aimed at reaching the educational needs of homeless children and youth. Some of John’s current clients include the Office on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, the Children’s Aid Society, and Groundwork.  John is also the Senior Fellow with the Support Center for Nonprofit Management, concentrating on executive leadership and organizational development.

In 2007, John led the successful turnaround of Project Reach Youth (PRY), a community-based organization committed to helping low-income youth, adults, and families learn and grow in a creative and supportive environment.  John led the organization through a successful merger with a long-time Brooklyn partner, Lutheran Community Health Centers.

Prior to his turnaround work at PRY, John led a turnaround for a national non-profit organization building the capacity of non-profit and faith-based organizations around the United States.  John oversaw the day-to-day operations and facilitated several million dollars in grants and contracts under its umbrella.   

As a nonprofit executive, John was responsible for turning around a troubled effort in Northern Virginia dedicated to homelessness and poverty.  John increased the organization’s budget by over 300% while receiving national honors for the delivery of services to homeless children and families.   The organization maintained several homeless shelters, a legal aid and case management unit, a community wealth venture, and several other programs and initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty in one of the fastest growing regions in the United States.  Due to John's leadership, the region now maintains an additional shelter for pregnant women, a cold-winter shelter, a drop-in day center, a low-income training facility, a volunteer house and a long-term federally funded program supporting non-profit organizations serving low-income families. John also served as the National Director of States and Communities with America’s Promise, a youth development organization started by former Secretary of State Colin Powell.  He was responsible for helping shape youth efforts in several dozen neighborhoods, cities, and states across the United States. 

John also worked for the City of New York in developing child protection policies and programs for the Administration for Children Services and worked with the substance abuse initiative for the Rikers Island Correctional Facility.  In Brooklyn’s Red Hook public housing community, John helped to start an effort aimed at helping low-income children and families with employment and educational opportunities.  John started his career as a successful community and political organizer, having led several efforts in Minneapolis and throughout the Midwest and the South.

John has been an Early Childhood Policy Fellow with the Children’s Defense Fund, Urban Studies Fellow with the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs, Coro Leadership New York and a New York United Executive Leadership Fellow.