John Marble

John Marble is the founder of Pivot. A seasoned strategist and communicator on workforce policy, innovation, and neurodiversity, his work has appeared in a broad spectrum of media including The New York Times, the BBC, and Rolling Stone. 

 

He has served as an aide to two Presidents, along with advising other policy makers such as Vice Present Al Gore, and Secretaries Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. In 2009, he became President Obama's first openly-autistic staff member when he was appointed by the White House to the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM). There, his portfolio included workforce development, veterans hiring, and innovation.

 

As a presidential appointee at OPM, Marble was part of a coordinating team tasked by the President to attract a new generation of Americans to public service and co-established a government innovation program which has saved the American taxpayer over $2.5 Billion to date. In 2016, he was named by the Hillary for America campaign as Deputy Director for Principal Engagement for Florida. In that role, Marble managed trips to the state of Florida by Secretary Clinton, Vice President Biden, and Presidents Clinton and Obama - managing the logistics and staff of campaign events and coordinating security between the U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement.

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Having spent nearly eight years leading efforts to incorporate the best practices of Silicon Valley into the Federal Government, John Marble moved to the Bay Area in early 2017. His motivation stemmed from his frequent visits to Silicon Valley on behalf of the Obama Administration. While collaborating with the technology sector on projects of innovation, he began to map how the tech sector's significant diversity gaps and cultural parameters were creating an artificial drag on sector valuation and the national economy. Using a small amount of savings he had set aside during government service, Marble moved to Silicon Valley and took a minimum wage job in a warehouse in order to provide himself the budget and time needed to map-out patterns of additional pressure points preventing Silicon Valley from addressing its diversity gaps. 

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In 2017, he became a founding advisor to the Neurodiversity Pathways program of Goodwill of Silicon Valley - a bridge program to assist unemployed autistic adults as they transition to roles in the technology sector and beyond. Utilizing self advocacy, empowerment, and the latest scientific understanding, the program's pilot project has placed 21 chronically unemployed autistic individuals into integrated work where they now generate $1.46 Million in annual salary and benefits. As an advisor to Neurodiversity Pathways, Marble helps to shape the program's impact in addition to coaching graduates and spending time in the classroom.

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John Marble additionally serves as a Bay Area Regional Advisory Committee Member for the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities and as a Board Member of Venture Bound, an organization working with public school systems to transition young people with cognitive disabilities to work. He is also a founding team member of Brightest Young Things, a creative consultancy, event production company, and online magazine. In that role, he is serving in his 10th year as the volunteer Co-Producer of Capital Pride and Brightest Young Thing's opening pride celebration in Washington, DC. In 2018, he co-founded Bay Area Queer Autistics, a connecting point for queer neurodiverse individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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A global traveler, his curiosity has taken him around the world to study conflict resolution and systems of impact. In that aspect, he's traveled with nomadic communities in Central Asia, joined anti-poaching patrols in the Eastern Congo, traced the history of canine domestication with scientists in Siberia, mushed dog sled teams with indigenous communities in the Arctic, and even once found himself stranded for three days on a deserted island.

John Marble remains passionate about increasing overall diversity in tech and is excited to use his work with Pivot to partner with advocates helping the technology sector realize its full potential. He is a frequent writer and speaker on autistic issues. John lives in San Francisco.

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He is autistic.