Name John Rogers | Role Political leader | |
John C. Rogers is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary in the office of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and a national leader in advancing stem cell medical research in the political and strategic arena. He also contributes regularly on National Defense issues in the United States.
Early Life and Education
Born on October 28, 1960, John spent his childhood in Park Forest, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. His mother was a singer for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and his father, a World War II veteran, was an insurance executive. John met many prominent Illinois politicians in his early years, serving as the impetus to go into public service.
After attending the University of Iowa, John began his career in public service in 1982 by volunteering on political campaigns in Iowa. Moving back to Wisconsin, John was the campaign director for Matt Flynn’s (D-Milwaukee) senate race in 1986. Following Flynn’s loss, John was tapped to be a staffer for Congressman Les Aspin (D-Wisconsin) in which he held the positions of Ombudsman (District Director) and Political Director. John first began his work with the “mixed tables” approach to problem solving in 1991 while working for Congressman Aspin. John was also the Director of the Senate Democratic Caucus for the Wisconsin State Senate from 1989 to 1990.
Department of Defense
Following the 1992 elections, President William J. Clinton appointed John to the post of Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs and later Deputy Assistant Secretary (LA) Plans and Operations at the Department of Defense. As part of the Secretary of Defense’s inner circle he assisted in the creation of strategies and tactics on significant defense policies. He also served as a key facilitator between the Department of Defense, the White House, and Congress on issues such as military base closures, military base re-use efforts, technology reinvestment programs, and privatization issues.
Private Sector Career
John left the Pentagon and became a consultant for various corporate interests before becoming a founding partner of RWR Consulting in 1994. John was also one of the co-founders of Pace-Capstone, a government affairs and strategic development firm, in 1997. Capstone developed a partnership with the Whyte, Hirschboek, & Dudek law firm a few years later with John assuming the title of president of WHD Government Affairs. In 2010, John left Whyte, Hirschboek, & Dudek Government Affairs and reestablished Capstone National Partners, a public affairs firm in Milwaukee, WI, and Washington, DC. John is currently the CEO and largest share holder in Capstone National Partners.
In 2009, Rogers took over as the CEO of RL Leaders. Leaders specializes in creating immersive experiences for the national security community. Leaders is best known for the creation of the Improvised Explosive Device Battle Drill (IEDBD) which trains soldiers how to observe and detect enemy telltale signs of IED’s. The IEDBD battle drill has been hailed by JIEDDO as breakthrough technology. Leaders also developed a curriculum around the Aspin “mixed tables” called the Adaptive Creating Thinking Panels (ACT) for government and non governmental clients.
John also serves as the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Procurement Institute, a non-profit organization that assists Wisconsin companies in capturing federal contracts and was appointed by Governor Jim Doyle as Commissioner for the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.
Medical Advancement
John worked with Michael J. Fox to create the 2006 Mid-term election stem cell political movement that is acknowledged to have impacted political races across the United States. John's contributions to Mr. Fox's political outreach efforts are chronicled in Mr. Fox's book, "Always Looking Up." He is a founding executive board member of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) and the former Vice Chairman of the Parkinson’s Action Network. John has also been an active contributor to the mission of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation .
Personal Life
John lives in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin with his wife and two children. He has taken an active interest in painting and photography.