John Converse Townsend
Creative | Digital Strategist | Storyteller

Resume

JOHN CONVERSE TOWNSEND
JOHNCTOWNSEND.COM | JCTOWNS@GMAIL.COM | 240.997.6412

 

EXPERIENCE

ASHOKA: INNOVATORS FOR THE PUBLIC
EDITOR and DIGITAL STRATEGIST, 2010-present

  • attracted more than 515K fans and followers to Ashoka Changemakers’ “must-follow” social media accounts
  • wrote or edited three of the top 10 posts (all time) on Ashoka’s Forbes.com blog, “Change in the Making”
  • trusted by Ashoka partners, including Unilever and the LEGO Foundation, to develop media content strategy
  • launched a media partnership with Edutopia, kicked off by an eight-part series on innovation in education


TRUTH ABOUT IT, ESPN TRUEHOOP NETWORK
CO-EDITOR and SPECIAL to ESPN.com, 2010-present

  • cover NBA games, the Draft, and related events with credentials as a special correspondent to ESPN.com
  • manage TAI's team of contributing writers and international correspondents in the Czech Republic and Poland

  • plan coverage strategy, edit copy, write headlines, and ensure stories are both compelling and data-informed


CALVERT SOCIAL INVESTMENT FOUNDATION
PORTFOLIO ASSISTANT, 2009-2010

  • wrote memos for the board of directors
  • collected and reviewed due diligence packages from not-for-profits

  • translated documents to Spanish


EARLY OPPORTUNITIES

Communications Intern at Smart Growth America, Washington, D.C. (2008)
GIS Intern at Spatial Insights, Inc., Falls Church, Virginia (2007)
Communications Intern at Population Council, Inc., Nairobi, Kenya (2006)


SKILLS

COMPUTER: MS Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), MailChimp, Photoshop, iMovie, GarageBand, Windows, Mac OS
CONTENT PRODUCTION: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, HootSuite, TweetDeck, CMS (Drupal, WP, Tumblr) 
LANGUAGES: HTML, English, Spanish, sarcasm, and a bit of French
SCUBA DIVING: I've been a certified open water diver since 2003 and once had a run-in with a hammerhead shark


EDUCATION

THE UNIVERSITY of NORTH CAROLINA at CHAPEL HILL
B.A., Sociology; Minors: Social Entrepreneurship, City and Regional Planning


HONORS, etc.

Grew up in three capital cities and have traveled to more than 20 countries in search of adventure and understanding
Storyteller for Heart of Man, the education startup founded by Marcus Noel, a 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 innovator
Made appearances on “Sportsworld,” BBC World Service Radio’s flagship sports program
Named “Best of the Web” by The Guardian (UK) in October 2011
2nd Place Winner in the 2008 Carolina Challenge and People's Choice Award winner in Social Entrepreneurship tract