John Cary is an advocate, speaker, and writer, who has pioneered a career at the intersection of design and social change.

John’s first book, The Power of Pro Bono, was published in 2010. He is also the editor of PublicInterestDesign.org and his writing has appeared in an array of publications as diverse as CNN.com, The Christian Science Monitor, Fast Company, and GOOD.

In addition to his writing, John speaks widely on architecture, design, public service, and social justice, frequently lecturing at universities and professional conferences nationwide.

John is currently a research fellow, focused on public interest design, within the University of Minnesota College of Design. This April through June, he and partner Courtney E. Martin are the first guest curators in residence at the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco, for an exhibition on public interest design and storytelling, tentatively titled “Design Stories: Beginning, Middle, (No) End.” In August, Courtney and John will be residents of the Santa Fe Art Institute doing multimedia work on design literacy.

John also advises and consults with a wide range of nonprofit design, urban advocacy, and philanthropic organizations as well as corporations, building on seven years of experience as executive director of the San Francisco-based Public Architecture and brief leadership of Next American City.

In 2006, at age 29, John became the youngest person ever recognized as a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council, alongside the likes of Nobel Laureates Vice President Al Gore and Energy Sec. Steven Chu. In 2008, he held the Rome Prize in design at the American Academy in Rome. The following year, he was honored as co-recipient of the 2009 Designer of the Year Award from Contract Magazine. John was also a resident of the Rockefeller Foundation‘s Bellagio Center in 2009.

This past May, John served as the 2011 commencement speaker for the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. In May 2012, he will serve as the commencement speaker for the College of Design at the University of Minnesota.

Trained as an architect, John earned his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota, and his Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley.

A native of Milwaukee, Wis., John currently resides in San Francisco, Calif., with his partner and wife–author and speaker Courtney E. Martin, though they normally live in Brooklyn, N.Y., with their cat, Kima. He is an avid runner, having completed the Rome, DC, Chicago, and New York Marathons.