John Sternlicht is the senior director of strategic projects in the Government Business Development group at SRI International. In this role, his responsibilities include providing vision, leadership, and strategic direction for multidisciplinary projects, and creating business development and marketing opportunities for all of SRI’s divisions and locations.

Previously, Sternlicht worked at a multinational law firm and in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office. He then served as General Counsel and Legislative Director of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). During that time, Sternlicht also served as Virginia's Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade under Governor Mark Warner (2002-2006), where he oversaw the activities of numerous diverse agencies in legislative, regulatory, strategic planning, personnel, economic development, and other arenas.

Sternlicht has written several papers and presented at conferences in the U.S. and Europe regarding various economic development topics, including the design, protection and assessment of incentives, economic development practices in the U.S. and Virginia, the process of negotiation, building public consensus, and strategic planning.

He received his B.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law. He also studied at the Université de Fribourg (Switzerland) on a Rotary International Graduate Fellowship. In 2001, Sternlicht earned his CEcD from the International Economic Development Council, and served from 2006-2010 as Virginia’s representative on the Global Strategies Council of the Southern Growth Policies Board, to which he was appointed by Governor Tim Kaine. Sternlicht speaks French, German and Spanish, in addition to English.