John Schroder, a former State Department official, former UN official, and the founder of two companies, joined Spirit of America as the Africa Regional Director. John has lived and worked in a dozen global hotspots. He co-founded and led a business advisory firm focused on international government affairs, and was a member of the founding team at a company that develops and integrates advanced energy storage technologies.

John served as a Lead Foreign Affairs Officer at the US Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) and as a Protection Officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He also worked with the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) in several East African countries. His work on internal displacement has been published by the Brookings Institution.

John holds a Juris Doctor in International and Comparative Law from the University of Washington, where he was also a fellow at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization. He studied philosophy and political theory at the University of Arkansas and Oxford University.