John Barros

John Barros serves as the Managing Principal of the Boston market for Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate development firm. There he leads all market activities and drives growth and business performance across a team of more than 180 professionals in Boston, Massachusetts and Manchester, New Hampshire. 

At the time he was recognized as a Barr Fellow in 2007, John was the executive director of Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), a nonprofit, community-based planning and organizing entity rooted in Roxbury/North Dorchester. He was the first young person elected to the DSNI Board of Directors and was later hired to lead the organization in 2000. Prior to leading DSNI, he helped underwrite initial public offerings at the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

John also previously served as the City of Boston’s first chief of economic development after being appointed by Mayor Martin J. Walsh in 2014. In this post, he was responsible for spurring economic development in all neighborhoods across the city and providing oversight of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.