John Lawless was also involved in the establishment of several start-up companies and mergers, most notably the merger of Inforum and Medstat to create the Michigan-based firm of Medstat, a healthcare information company. Lawless has also served on the boards of several arts organizations and served as chair of the board for the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head,SC.

Lawless is now retired and lives with his wife, Barbara, in Hendersonville, NC. Mr. Lawless served the Gardner Institute board for over 8 years. He brings a long history of making non-profit organizations even more viable in addition to his extraordinary business acumen and experience in strategic planning.