We’re making some noise with lots of snaps for our longtime chief investment officer, John Otterlei, who will be retiring at the end of the year.

John joined the Foundation in 2008 and has played a critical role in helping us realize our mission. Under his leadership, our investment assets have almost tripled, from $650 million in 2009 to $1.7 billion at the end of 2021. This exceptional performance has consistently placed us in the top 1% in comparison to our peers.

As Jen, Bush Foundation president, puts it: “We have been incredibly fortunate to have John leading our Bush Foundation investments for the past 14 years. John has led us through a remarkable period of organizational growth, growing the assets Archie left to the community and growing our capacity to do good with those assets. He is a true professional, an expert with deep commitment to purpose. Plus, he is a delightful and funny human being!”

For most of his career, John was an investment executive with Piper Sandler Companies and a longstanding trustee of the FB Heron Foundation, which is a pioneer in mission-related investing. John has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Minnesota and received his MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

At the Foundation, he manages our investments and works closely with the board of directors and investment advisors.

We’re sharing this news with you early to help John transition work and relationships smoothly and begin the search for our next investments leader. This also means we have ample time to celebrate John and wish him well as sets off on his next life adventure! Thank you for everything you do, John.