John Boit, Co-Founder

Since the late 1990s, John has worked extensively overseas as a strategic communications advisor, journalist and media development specialist. His work has taken him from the Middle East to the Caucasus to Central Asia to the Balkans.

John grew up in rural Maine, where regular fishing and hiking trips instilled a sense of adventure in him. After graduating from Harvard University in 1993, John was a photographer on a horseback expedition through Mongolia and Siberia, where he circumnavigated Lake Baikal, the largest body of fresh water in the world.

John then returned to the United States where he became a journalist, first in his home state of Maine and later in Massachusetts. While covering state politics, he met Jon Tapper, who worked for a competing newspaper.

John left the halls of politics for the war-ravaged country of Azerbaijan in 1999, where he set up shop as a freelance journalist and worked on the acclaimed documentary film, "In the Wake of Warriors," which aired on the Sundance Film Channel.

In 2000, he became the Azerbaijan country director of Internews, a US-based nonprofit organization that focused on media development. He was the executive producer of an historic television program that linked the warring countries of Azerbaijan with Armenia together via satellite for the first time in more than a decade. During this time he also served as a member of the US Embassy's Democracy Commission.

John has appeared on radio and television numerous times, has served as a jury member of the US Institute of Peace, and has twice been a guest lecturer at Harvard University.

In 2005, he worked as a media strategist for a communications company in Washington, D.C. and went to Afghanistan, where he led a team of consultants helping to build the Afghan government's press operations. One of those consultants was Jon Tapper, with whom he co-founded Melwood Global.

An incurably enthusiastic fly-fisherman, John now lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife, Kate.