John Baron
Founder
John Baron is the Founder of GBSM.
For more than 30 years, John has provided strategic counsel to some of the nation’s leading corporations, non-profit organizations and law firms.
He is an expert in organizational management and problem-solving, strategic and scenario planning, issue and crisis management, communications, positioning and messaging, litigation support, media and political strategy.
He specializes in assisting senior managers and boards in solving complex problems and in developing strategies for the future.
John is an advisor to AARP’s national leadership in Washington, D.C. on a wide range of strategic, organizational and communications matters. He has advised senior management at major law firms, The American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and Denver Water, the leading water authority in the Rocky Mountain West. He has extensive experience in higher education, working for many years with The University of Colorado and The University of Denver. He has advised private companies as diverse as United Airlines, real estate giant CBRE, international project management firm CH2M HILL, and national food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Among the hundreds of projects on which he and GBSM have played a central role are the creation and development of Denver International Airport; the creation and development of the new Children’s Hospital of Colorado; the creation of the Sangre de Cristo National Conservation Area; the clean-up of Superfund sites such as Rocky Flats, the Eagle Mine, and Lowry Landfill; the preservation of Colorado’s largest privately owned ranch; and the creation and launch of Tippet Rise, an extraordinary and internationally acclaimed new arts center in rural Montana.
Prior to co-founding GBSM in 1986, John served as City Editor of The Rocky Mountain News. He directed a news operation of 70 reporters and editors, supervised national award-winning coverage of special projects reporting teams and established the State & Regional Desk. Before moving to Denver, John was U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes’ press secretary in Washington, D.C. He began his career as a reporter at the Steamboat Pilot in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
John holds a B.A. from Hobart College and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University. He and his wife, Suzanne, have three sons. He is a member of the Colorado Forum.
