John Schulenburg, MSW, GRCP

As a Governance, Risk, and Compliance Professional with over 35,000 hours of direct experience in behavioral science, mediating risk and change across multiple sectors and market cycles, John provides a rigorous body of work that draws from neuroscience, systems theory, object-relations theory, developmental psychology, and evidence-based decision making.

John views corporate risk through the lens of individual behavior and group dynamics. Formally trained and mentored as a psychodynamic-oriented psychotherapist practicing in an inpatient and outpatient psychiatric unit, John learned from the beginning a very stringent view of risk, ethics, and compliance.

His experience managing risk began in the trenches of community mental health. In response to the need for a higher level of intervention, John implemented a county-wide crisis intervention program. In one single, consecutive 14-month period, he successfully implemented 334 suicide/homicide interventions without losing a single person.

Recognized for his work, his career quickly elevated to serving as Clinical Director for a regional mental health center. In this role, he oversaw five clinical programs and was instrumental in rewriting all the policies and procedures, securing a CARF accreditation.

John was recruited to the state level, where he served as Director of Clinical Operations for the Illinois Department of Corrections, working under Deputy Director Linda Dillion during the end of Governor Ryan’s administration. In this role, he had statewide responsibility for responding to threats and hazards within the Illinois prison system.

This work took him from mitigating risk in maximum-security environments to implementing interventions in a SuperMax prison buried 30 feet underground. During this period, John also actively meditated hostile relationships between state agencies, worked on developing new policies for community jails, and led a team of psychologists to evaluate the 167 inmates commuted from death row by Governor Ryan.

John’s past consulting practice focused on managing risk and facilitating growth from start-up ventures to mature companies at peak development.

His range of effectiveness transcends sectors and situations. He has brought value to executives going through transition in a Fortune 30 company to scientists working on particle accelerators and neutron generator solutions, to establishing a governance structure with international manufacturing companies navigating complex transitions, to record label owners, bank executives, multi-billion-dollar trading institutions, governmental policy groups, and a broad range of healthcare and humanistic institutions tackling the wicked problems that consume our world.

Risk is relational, and mediating risk always entails navigating the dynamics between people. John utilizes a hybrid shuttle-caucusing approach that he developed to mediate conflict when working at the state level. His subtle and intuitive approach draws from his extensive experience in the behavioral science field. It has proven effective in mediating intense conflicts between partner groups and corporate officers on issues ranging from sexual misconduct at the senior executive level to mediating hostile and asymmetrical power dynamics in the transitions of corporate ownership.

John has synthesized a current body of work that integrates a deep understanding of human dynamics during critical decision points with corporate power, fiduciary duty, and group dynamics. He has bridged this understanding with a multidisciplinary approach that helps protect self-governance and corporate integrity.

John provides an essential resource for senior corporate leaders to protect shareholder value during critical phases of change. These astute corporate leaders recognize the intrinsic value of protecting their interests by an individual whose insights and wisdom were directly forged from working with individuals at the extreme range of the human condition.

The hallmark of his work is built on my deep understanding that for senior corporate executives to navigate the storms that surround them, they must turn inward to cultivate and evolve their core selves to reach their highest level of integrity. This is the locus of power and integrity for each leader.