John Leach is an editor, educator and entrepreneur. He is the managing partner at Digital Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in digital strategy and content. He also teaches journalism as an adjunct instructor at the University of Colorado Boulder. He was managing editor of the Arizona Republic and the top editor at azcentral.com, Arizona's largest website and home of the Republic, NBC affiliate KPNX-TV, and the Spanish-language La Voz. He also held print editing positions at the Republic and its sister newspaper, the Phoenix Gazette. John taught as an adjunct instructor at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and spent a year as a visiting journalism professor at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. He is the founder and CEO of the Best of the West journalism contest and grants program. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism with honors and a master's degree in journalism from CU Boulder and a master's degree in American Studies from the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. He serves on the advisory boards for CU's College of Media, Communication and Information and Journalism Department and received CU's Alumni Recognition Award in 2018. He is married to Deborah Ross, also a CU journalism graduate. They have two grown children.