John Gyllenhammer was born in the Midwest, grew up on the east coast and in California and has resided in Orange for the last 6 years. He attended UCLA, graduating with degrees in Business Economics and Political Science. He continued his education by getting an MBA at Cal State Northridge and then by earning a MsBA in Organizational Leadership at USC.
John has worked 15 years as a retail and operations manager for two Fortune 100 companies. During those 15 years, he has had the responsibility of leading loss prevention regional teams, multi-unit retail stores and multi-site warehouse operations. Throughout these experiences, he has held roles leading business units of over 9,000 associates and has been responsible for profit and loss decision making for business units generating half a billion dollars in revenue. In these roles, he prioritized helping to create an environment in which his team can be happy and grow. The increasing leadership responsibilities have helped him understand the administrative and people needs in running a large organization that delivers results.
John has taken an active role in community service while at work. As a retail manager, John had taken on the role of West Region Community Captain. This role gave him oversight over 440 retail store locations, the strategy for community service and the budget to support giving priorities. John was an active board member for the United Ways of CA from 2017 to 2020. John has continued his focus on giving, as he leads his current business unit to help with proactively contributing to giving campaigns, participating in food/toy drives and serving at local food banks. On Sundays, John serves as a 3/4th grade Sunday school teacher at his church. He is a recent graduate of the Orange Citizen’s Police Academy and is very proud of the work the Orange police department has been doing to serve the community. John has a heart to serve and willingness to give.
John is married to Lauren (15 years) and has two children. Lauren is a research professor working at the UCI medical center in Orange. When not working, he is spending time outdoors with his family, coaching their sports teams and is engaged at his church.