John Melville
Collaborative Economics

John Melville, director and founder of Collaborative Economics, has 13 years of experience in economic development and collaborative strategy development in the United States and internationally. John has served in numerous project leadership, task leadership, project support, and analytic roles in consulting engagements in North America, Asia, and Europe. He has specific expertise in human resource and education and training issues and strategies, especially their role in regional economic development.

He helped design and launch Joint Venture's Challenge 2000 K-12 Educational Improvement Initiative and continues to advise Initiative staff. With commitments of more than $23 million, Challenge 2000 is one of the leading regional education reform efforts in California. With Joint Venture, he also served as key staff in the early design of the Smart Valley (focused on expanding use of the information infrastructure) and is now helping launch a new initiative focused on regional workforce renewal.

As a senior policy analyst at SRI's Center for Economic Competitiveness, John authored or co-authored more than 20 economic strategy plans for communities and regions, authored a national guidebook on the role of education/training and economic development, and published articles on education. He helped launch state and local education, training, and economic development strategies in California, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Hawaii, Minnesota, Maryland, Hong Kong, and Spain. He holds an A.B. with honors in political science from Stanford University.