John W. Martin is a futurist, award-winning author, and the President and CEO of RVA757 Connects.

When John is not advancing the Richmond-Hampton Roads megaregion, he’s leading SIR (www.sirhq.com), a Richmond-based strategic consultancy. Founded in 1964, SIR has orchestrated over 16,000 strategic initiatives supporting corporations, government agencies, universities, nonprofits, and even entire communities. SIR’s work centers on identifying and advancing unique brand positions, creating new products and services, formulating strategic plans, and assessing the overall effectiveness of business initiatives.

SIR’s strategic work is informed by its internal think tank, the SIR Institute for Tomorrow (www.institutefortomorrow.com). Research-backed trends are shared with SIR’s clients through reports, workshops, and keynote speeches and are periodically covered by the national media. SIR’s insights have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and on NBC Nightly News, CBS News, MSNBC, and NPR’s Morning Edition.

John co-authored the award-winning business book, Boomer Consumer, and subsequently named a Top 10 Business book by Corbis, a Bill Gates Company.

John earned an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.A. in Economics and Studio Art from Washington & Lee University. He currently serves on the boards of RVA757 Connects, FeedMore, and Collegiate School.

 John spends his free time searching for the next fish bite.