John Celestand is an accomplished Director with over 15 years of experience in program management, spanning higher education
and both the private and non-profit sectors. John's career includes experience as a communication professional in broadcast
journalism working for over nine years as a freelance color analyst covering college and professional basketball for networks such
as SportsNet New York (SNY), ESPN Regional Television, NBC Sports Philadelphia, Madison Square Garden Network and IMG
College Radio.
John holds a Bachelor’s degree in arts from Villanova University and currently serves as a Board Member for the Villanova
University Alumni Association. He is an active member of the Villanova Black Alumni Association serving as the Chair of the
Student-Athlete Engagement Committee helping to connect current black student-athletes with Alumni and other networking
and community engagement opportunities. John also serves as Vice President of the Board for Voices for Children Montgomery, a
non-profit organization that trains and supports volunteer advocates for children in Montgomery County, Maryland’s foster care
system to ensure their placement in safe, permanent homes.
John was a member of the Los Angeles Laker’s 2000 NBA championship team playing alongside the late great Kobe Bryant and
Shaquille O’Neal. He was inducted into the Villanova Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2017 for his outstanding career on Villanova’s Men’s Basketball Team from 1995-1999.
John served as the Director of Engagement at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from 2019-2022, where he oversaw community
engagement initiatives and led multiple cohorts of public media stations participating in grant-funded initiatives.
John currently serves as the Program Director for the Knight x LMA BloomLab, a $3.2 million initiative funded by the Knight
Foundation and managed by Local Media Association (LMA) to help drive sustainability for 26 Black-owned local media
organizations through technology.
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