JOHN STAFFORD: BIOGRAPHY
I am a sixteen-year resident of the 37th District, and live on North Beacon Hill.
I grew up in Bellevue, Washington. I graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in history (cum laude) in 1984. I played one year of junior varsity basketball in college (co-captain).
My first career was as a management consultant based in Washington, D.C., for over a decade.
I worked for Strategic Planning Associates (now called Oliver Wyman), a $100 million/year management consulting firm that advised the senior management of large corporations on business strategy. I started as a research analyst and was promoted five times to become one of the youngest partners in the firm’s history in 1990. My clients were Sarah Lee, Ralston Purina, L’eggs Hosiery, General Electric, Marine Midland Bank, Eli Lilly, North American Van Lines and AT&T. I took a leave of absence in 1992 to travel internationally, and decided not to return to the firm. I worked for several years as an independent management consultant, including on several economic consulting projects in the public sector -- for the World Health Organization in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and for Unicef in Denmark.
I then completed my master’s degree in teaching (which I started at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and finished at St. Martin’s College in Lacey), while working in several hourly wage positions.
Since 2000, I have worked full-time as a senior substitute teacher for Seattle Public Schools.
I have worked in nearly all 100 of the district’s schools, including long-term assignments (serving in unfilled teaching position) in a number of South Seattle schools, including Rainier Beach High School, Cleveland High School, Franklin High School and Aki Kurose Middle School. This experience has provided invaluable exposure to our public school system.
I am currently completing my master’s degree in history from Harvard’s Extension School (expected graduation, November, 2017), and am writing my thesis on post-colonial Africa. After completing my program, I aspire to work as a full-time high school or community college history teacher.
I am very active with the Democratic Party. I was a candidate for State Senate in the 2014 race (won by Pramila Jayapal). I am a member of the 37th District Democrats Executive Board, where I hold two positions: King County Legislative Action Committee male representative; and King County Democrats Central Committee male representative. I provide short presentations on these assignments to the 37th District Democrats Monthly Membership Meetings. I am a Precinct Committee Officer on Beacon Hill.
I am also very active in our community. During summers, I work as a youth baseball umpire for the Northwest Baseball Umpires Association. From 2011 to 2013, I served as the treasurer for Arts in Motion, a non-profit that provided subsidized music lessons to Rainier Valley youth. I am one of four Steering Committee members for the South Seattle Climate Action Network, a grassroots climate advocacy group that meets monthly at the Beacon Hill Library. Finally, I write a monthly article on politics and public policy for the South Seattle Emerald (links to my articles for the South Seattle Emerald can be found in the “Articles” tab at the top of the page).
My interests include attending lectures on public policy and history, duplicate bridge tournaments, jazz drumming and sports.
I am a sixteen-year resident of the 37th District, and live on North Beacon Hill.
I grew up in Bellevue, Washington. I graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in history (cum laude) in 1984. I played one year of junior varsity basketball in college (co-captain).
My first career was as a management consultant based in Washington, D.C., for over a decade.
I worked for Strategic Planning Associates (now called Oliver Wyman), a $100 million/year management consulting firm that advised the senior management of large corporations on business strategy. I started as a research analyst and was promoted five times to become one of the youngest partners in the firm’s history in 1990. My clients were Sarah Lee, Ralston Purina, L’eggs Hosiery, General Electric, Marine Midland Bank, Eli Lilly, North American Van Lines and AT&T. I took a leave of absence in 1992 to travel internationally, and decided not to return to the firm. I worked for several years as an independent management consultant, including on several economic consulting projects in the public sector -- for the World Health Organization in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and for Unicef in Denmark.
I then completed my master’s degree in teaching (which I started at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and finished at St. Martin’s College in Lacey), while working in several hourly wage positions.
Since 2000, I have worked full-time as a senior substitute teacher for Seattle Public Schools.
I have worked in nearly all 100 of the district’s schools, including long-term assignments (serving in unfilled teaching position) in a number of South Seattle schools, including Rainier Beach High School, Cleveland High School, Franklin High School and Aki Kurose Middle School. This experience has provided invaluable exposure to our public school system.
I am currently completing my master’s degree in history from Harvard’s Extension School (expected graduation, November, 2017), and am writing my thesis on post-colonial Africa. After completing my program, I aspire to work as a full-time high school or community college history teacher.
I am very active with the Democratic Party. I was a candidate for State Senate in the 2014 race (won by Pramila Jayapal). I am a member of the 37th District Democrats Executive Board, where I hold two positions: King County Legislative Action Committee male representative; and King County Democrats Central Committee male representative. I provide short presentations on these assignments to the 37th District Democrats Monthly Membership Meetings. I am a Precinct Committee Officer on Beacon Hill.
I am also very active in our community. During summers, I work as a youth baseball umpire for the Northwest Baseball Umpires Association. From 2011 to 2013, I served as the treasurer for Arts in Motion, a non-profit that provided subsidized music lessons to Rainier Valley youth. I am one of four Steering Committee members for the South Seattle Climate Action Network, a grassroots climate advocacy group that meets monthly at the Beacon Hill Library. Finally, I write a monthly article on politics and public policy for the South Seattle Emerald (links to my articles for the South Seattle Emerald can be found in the “Articles” tab at the top of the page).
My interests include attending lectures on public policy and history, duplicate bridge tournaments, jazz drumming and sports.