Our Team

John Bauser - Department Head, Strategy

Department Head, Strategy OAI Team Member Since: 2007 Years of Experience: 31 General Info Phone: 202-338-6100 ext. 154 Fax: 202-338-8182 jbauser@oai-usa.com

Biography

John Bauser joined the senior leadership team in October 2007 and serves as OAI’s Department Head for Strategy.  As such, John is responsible for OAI's strategic planning, development assessment, campaign feasibility study, and board development accounts.

John’s campaign-related work includes development of the comprehensive plan for the Trust for the National Mall’s landmark $350 million effort to revitalize the National Mall, and the feasibility study and campaign plan for  the North American portion of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund’s $125 million campaign to construct a new Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa – Nelson Mandela’s legacy project.  He was instrumental in the DC College Access Program’s $40 million campaign to generate scholarships for Washington DC’s high school graduates and Antietam Healthcare Foundation’s successful capital campaign for the new Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown MD. Other campaign and feasibility study-related clients include The Phillips Collection, GuideStar, ServiceSource, Lowell School, American Textile History Museum (Boston MA), Sacramento (CA) Discovery Museum, Rodeph Sholom School (New York, NY), and over 30 other nonprofit organizations nationwide.

A native of the Washington DC area, John brings 35 years of executive management, fundraising and advocacy experience to OAI. He has drawn on that experience in his development assessment and planning  work with scores of clients, among them the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, Washington (DC) Animal Rescue League, Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care, YWCA of the National Capital Area, Sitar Arts Center, Capital Partners for Education, America’s Promise, Arena Stage, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

John is fluent in several approaches to strategic planning, including the “cutting edge” Real Time Strategic Planning and Balanced Scorecard approaches. In the past year alone, he led the process that resulted in the YWCA of Greater Washington’s comprehensive strategic plan, authored the organizational restructuring plan that helped stabilize the 125 year old Brooklyn (NY) Conservatory of Music, and guided New York City-based Youth I.N.C.’s first-ever strategic planning process.  John’s international experience includes The Churchill Centre and Museum at the Cabinet War Rooms (London), where he facilitated that organization’s most recent planning process.

John is recognized for his work in board development, having partnered with both large and smaller, emerging organizations. He has conducted board retreats and board development assignments for the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hurt Home, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and Capital Area Asset Builders, to name just a few.

John's tenure in higher education includes five years at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he served as Assistant Dean and Director of Development for the Faculty of Arts & Letters and, later, as Director of Corporate Development university-wide. While at SUNY Buffalo, John was a key member of the team that launched the institution's successful $250 million comprehensive campaign.

John's nonprofit management experience spans 13 years at the helm of some of the nation's most respected orchestras, where he earned a reputation for both fiscal stabilization and innovative programming. John's extensive arts administration work culminated with the Buffalo Philharmonic, where he authored and implemented the business plan that reversed decades of decline and provided the foundation for the orchestra's recent resurgence and return to artistic prominence.

John is frequently called upon as an expert in strategy and development, and has conducted workshops for the Southeastern Museums Conference, League of American Orchestras, Leadership Greater Washington (DC), Booz Allen Hamilton’s Nonprofit Leadership Conference, African American Nonprofit Network, Montana Historical Society, Cultural Tourism DC, and the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington.

John is a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he received both his bachelor's (with Highest Honors) and master's degrees.  He did post-graduate work at the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) and served for three years as Adjunct Faculty there. John resides in Washington, DC with his wife, Cheryl Hargrove, an internationally recognized expert and consultant in the field of cultural and heritage tourism. John is an avid cyclist, and enjoys cooking, reading and travel.