John Vandewalle

John Vandewalle MD MBA BSc (Hons) has held numerous executive positions and is currently a serial entrepreneur and investor. He has several companies including Lumen Touch, iNTouch Consulting, Living Arts Space and Blue Apple Trends. He also sits on the boards of several for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.

John began his career as a high school teacher and biochemical research scientist and then worked as a physician in the hospitals in Johannesburg. He became Medical Director of Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals then was Director of Marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa.  He was an executive at Marion Merrell Dow and held various positions including VP of International Business and VP of Global Business Planning.

John was then founder and CEO of Teva Marion Partners (Teva Neuroscience) and then went to Quintiles. As President of North and South American operations, he was responsible for clinical trial programs on new drug development for the pharmaceutical industry. 

John sits on the Boards of various businesses and philanthropic organizations and was very involved with the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University as an advisory council member, and was an adjunct marketing professor. He was a mentor in The Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring program, a mentor at Rockhurst University for the executive MBA program and was a mentor at Southwest High School and Big Brothers Big Sisters in Kansas City. He was a member and the past President of The Overland Park South Rotary Club as well as a 2 term District Governor for Rotary. He is currently a member of the CAAHT (Community Action Against Human Trafficking) Rotary Club. He is dedicating much of his Rotary time to fighting against sex trafficking especially amongst school children. John also serves/d on the Board of AlignED (The Alliance for Childhood Education); the Board of Reaching Out From Within and volunteer mentor with the Kansas Dept. of Corrections; the Board of the Kansas City Tech Academy, the Board of the Kansas City Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program (KCSAPP); on The Johnson County Visioning Committee, The Kansas Power of the People Committee; the Board of Heart to Heart International, the Board of The Gordon Parks Elementary School, the Board of The Epilepsy Foundation, the Board of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. He is also working with an initiative with KC Common Good, Unite KC, KDOC and others to develop a master plan for LCF Career Campus. He is a convener for Kansas Dialogue. For relaxation John plays tennis, pickleball and skis.

John and his wife Jane recently took full-time residence in Salida, Colorado where he is now a member of the board of The Chaffee County Community Foundation and a board member of the Peak2Peak Pickleball Club.

His company Lumen Touch provides leadership and enterprise technology to education, school districts and schools

Lumen Touch is the only all-in-one enterprise management software system that streamlines the management of schools and school districts. The comprehensive web-based student achievement and school management system empowers students and teachers to manage learning and career success while providing all efficiencies of reporting and communication. 

Lumen Touch has a division that consults with education departments, schools and school districts focusing on driving leadership and planning using their proprietary methodology called Lumen8.

Some of these projects have involved working with:

• The Commissioner and the Department of Education in Missouri on their strategic plan
• Wyandotte High School in preparing the strategic plan for their School Based Health Clinic  
• Mattie Rhodes and their long-range strategic plan
• Niles Home and their short-term plan
• Gordon Parks Elementary School and their strategic plan
• F.L. Schlagle and their plan to be one of the Top 50 high schools in Kansas by 2020
• Hosting high school student interns from Christo Rey, Northland CAPS and Kansas City Kansas Public Schools
• Dighton School District, a Kansas Gemini District on redesign.
• Bringing business into the classroom with various schools and Prep-KC

John’s vision is to bring world-class education to every student on the planet.