Prior to founding The Shehane Group, John generated resources for Girl Scouts, United Way, Camp Fire USA, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, and Pembroke Hill School.

John was the 1990 recipient of the Fund Raising Excellence Award of the Greater Kansas City Council on Philanthropy and the 1991 Trainer of the Year Award from the Center for Management Assistance. He continues to teach First Course, a fundraising class sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, for professionals new to the field of fundraising. John holds the distinction of having taught segments of this course longer and more often than any other volunteer trainer in the nation. John has also taught courses in development and nonprofit management at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. When asked what he likes best about fundraising, he says, "Teaching, in all of its manifestations."

John is a certified fund raising executive and a member of the Association of Fundraising Executives, Council on Philanthropy, and the Mid America Planned Giving Council. John served on the National Ethics Committee of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, which drafted the present code of ethics and standards for professional practice. He has also served on the Kansas City Chapter AFP Ethics Committee. John is a graduate of Central Missouri State University.

If there is a word that describes John's career, it is integrity. He will long be the champion of "best practices" in the field of development-both in Kansas City and across the nation.