John Lopez, PhD

John Lopez, PhD, is chief executive officer of Intercambio Uniting Communities located in Boulder County, Colorado and president of Lopez Research & Consulting based in metro Denver, Colorado. Dr. Lopez has over two decades of thought-leadership, strategic and operational management, and public policy experience as chief administrative officer and multiple vice president positions and senior staff roles at higher education institutions, nonprofit, public, private and publicly traded organizations. 

Lopez is an Amazon bestselling author of An Immigrant in the C-Suite: From the Journey, Lessons for the Business Community. Key topics include an immigrant’s lens of cultural dynamics and journey to the C-Suite, and the importance of embracing talent of all origins in an increasingly global, diverse workforce. Lopez develops a model which consists of four levels and 20 activities organizations can implement to increase cultural competence and productivity between and among teams, and leaders can accomplish to prepare for or excel in C-Suite positions.

John has managed all aspects of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) for 16 states and territories in the Western region. Previous positions include vice president of government affairs for Apollo Education Group, vice president of planning and research for a higher education management consulting firm, institutional research analyst at the University of Arizona, and legislative aide for a state senator in the Nebraska Legislature. He has taught research and statistics courses, managed lobbyists in several states across the country, and is a former Higher Learning Commission consultant-evaluator serving on higher education accreditation review teams. John is member of the Board of Trustees for Herzing University.

Dr. Lopez earned his PhD in higher education specializing in management and policy from the University of Arizona.  John is proud of his service in the U.S. Navy, holds dual U.S. and Belizean citizenship, and his hobbies include golf, traveling, and philanthropic work in Belize.