John Bauters is a faculty specialist and fellow with the Institute of Public Leadership. The former mayor of Emeryville, California, he is nationally recognized as a subject matter expert on housing, transportation and environmental policy. During his time in office, he was elected chair of multiple regional policy and regulatory agencies in the Bay Area, where he championed numerous policy reforms in land use, mobility equity and environmental protection.
Bauters has been a public interest attorney and government relations director for more than twenty years, representing people who experience homelessness, individuals living with untreated mental health needs or addiction, survivors of domestic violence, and other at-risk populations in legal proceedings or by authoring and passing state legislation that remove barriers to public benefits, shelter, housing, employment and safety. Legislation he crafted to establish legal standards for Trauma Recovery Centers that use an integrated behavioral services model to provide care to survivors of violent crime has been replicated nationally, with more than fifty TRCs now open and serving crime survivors.
Bauters received his B.A. magna cum laude in Government & International Studies and Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his J.D. from Boston College Law School. Affectionately known as "America's Bike Mayor," he consults local and regional government leaders, staff and advocacy groups on how to achieve important community change through successful communication. He is an avid outdoorsman and the president of the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club.