John Vermilye
Ambassador
John Vermilye is the Co-Founder of the Gallifrey Foundation focused on social enterprise education and marine conservation. He is currently leading the international Fair Carbon project to help scale viable and credible nature-based carbon sequestration projects for the benefit of local communities and the environment.
Vermilye was head of baggage operations at Eastern Air Lines, then Senior VP at the International Air Transport Association, IATA in Geneva. As a recognized industry expert in airline operations and baggage security, he was an advisor to the US government to help set up the Transportation Security Administration, TSA, after 9/11.
In 2003, with the backing of the TSA and luggage industry Vermilye created the Travel Sentry standard for luggage locks used by security agencies globally. Similar to Fair Carbon, the core objective is to ask what can be done in a central neutral position to create win-win-win solutions, foster collaboration and not reinvent the wheel.
Vermilye earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard University, was a Harvard Fellow in 2017 and is an alumnus of the London Business School. He is Chairman of Travel Sentry and Co-Chair of Dr. Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue.