John Baron (for Andy Mountain)

John Baron
Founder, GBSM, Inc.

John Baron is the co-founder of GBSM, a management strategy, public affairs and corporate communications consulting firm.

John provides counsel to some of the nation’s leading corporations and non-profit organizations. He is an expert in organizational problem-solving, strategy and planning, issue and crisis management, positioning, corporate communications, media and political strategy.

He specializes in assisting senior management and boards in solving complex problems and in developing strategies for the future.

John is a strategic advisor to AARP’s national leadership in Washington, D.C. on a wide range of strategic, organizational and communications matters. He advises The American Cancer Society’s advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. as well. Denver Water, the leading water authority in a large multi-state region, has turned to John as a management, planning and communications strategist for over two decades. Among the hundreds of projects on which he and GBSM have played a central role are the creation of the new Sangre de Cristo National Conservation Area; clean-up of Superfund sites such as Rocky Flats, the Eagle Mine, and Lowry Landfill; the creation and development of Denver International Airport; the creation and development of the new Children’s Hospital; the preservation of Colorado’s largest privately owned ranch. He advises private companies as diverse as international project management firm CH2M HILL and national restaurant chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Prior to co-founding GBSM in 1986, John served as City Editor of The Rocky Mountain News. He directed a news operation of 70 reporters and editors, supervised national award-winning coverage of special projects reporting teams and established the State & Regional Desk. From 1976-78, he served as press secretary to U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes in Washington, D.C. John began his career as a reporter at the Steamboat Pilot in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

John holds a B.A. from Hobart College and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University. He and his wife, Suzanne, have three sons.