John Pearce was born on 23rd March 1942 in Truro, Cornwall. He studied at Cambridge University and the London School of Economics graduating with a BA (Hons) and a diploma in Social Administration in 1963 and 1965 respectively. Between 1963 and 1971 he worked in community development programmes with several national and international organisations, including Tibetan refugee resettlement project with Nepal Red Cross, and as a field worker with the Young Volunteer Force Foundation in North Devon. Pearce then became the director of one of 12 Community Development Projects, a major national initiative of the Callaghan government, in West Cumbria from 1972-1976. As part of the project he formed a community based housing association; the first industrial co-operative development project in England; successful self-help initiatives with young people and the elderly; research into tourism and into local male unemployment; and the established a local information centre. His experience on this project informed his approach to developing community business upon moving to Scotland when the CDP programme was wound up. From around this time he was involved in the Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM) and chaired its lending committee, ICOF.
John Pearce was appointed to the Local Enterprise Advisory Project (LEAP), based within Paisley College of Technology, in 1978 where he worked with people living in disadvantaged urban housing schemes in the west of Scotland. Pearce pioneered the concept and practice of community business in Scotland and was a founder member of Community Business Scotland (CBS, which later became CBS Network Ltd). He became General Manager of Strathclyde Community Business (SCB) in 1984. SCB was the major development agency for community businesses in the west of Scotland providing information and advice, development support, training and financial assistance. From 1991-2010 he worked as a community enterprise consultant and researcher, continuing to manage development projects, run social accounting training sessions and to write on community enterprise in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and India. He wrote several books including "Social Enterprise in Anytown" published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2003.
John Pearce died on 12 December 2011.