John L. Lehr

John L. Lehr leads the Parkinson's Foundation (PF) as president and chief executive officer. He has nearly three decades of nonprofit fundraising and management experience, with a strong focus in the voluntary healthcare and medical research sectors.

Lehr played a key role in merging two legacy Parkinson’s disease (PD) organizations into the Parkinson’s Foundation in 2017. Since joining the Foundation, fundraising revenue has grown three-fold, allowing the Foundation to greatly expand its mission programs in research, care, and patient education and empowerment. He has expanded the Foundation’s footprint by opening PF chapters across the United States, as well as expanding the Foundation’s Global Care Network to more than 60 PF-designated Centers of Excellence. These and other developments have resulted in the Foundation receiving the highest ratings among independent nonprofit rating agencies, including a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar. The Foundation was also named one of the Best Places to Work in 2020 by The NonProfit Times.

During his tenure at the Foundation, Lehr has overseen several major mission program initiatives including:

• Launching PD GENEration, a groundbreaking study to gather genetic data for PD research and drug development. PD GENEration has tested tens of thousands of people with PD, returning results and providing genetic counseling;
• Launching the Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech, a collaboration with Parkinson’s UK that invests in early-stage symptom-controlling and disease-modifying PD therapies;
• Expanding the Foundation’s Global Care Network to more than 60 Centers of Excellence worldwide in order to increase access to high-quality PD care and disseminate best practices globally;
• Joining the Parkinson’s Policy Roundtable to align the PD community around key policy issues, and to petition federal and state lawmakers to take action on pressing research and care concerns.

Lehr also guides the Foundation’s four-year strategic plan which aims to advance the Foundation’s mission and ensure meaningful outcomes for the PD community. In advocating for people with PD, Lehr recognizes the importance of providing information and resources to the PD community, notably through the Foundation’s website, Parkinson.org, which receives more than 8 million visits per year, the toll-free Helpline which answers more than 23,000 calls from the public each year, the Community Grants Program which provides $1 million of PD-focused grants to local organizations annually, and through Moving Day, a walk for Parkinson’s, the Foundation’s signature peer-to-peer fundraising event.

Lehr earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in History from Villanova University. From 1990–1991, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sri Lanka.