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John Mills

CEO & Cofounder
Watch Duty
San Francisco, California

John is the CEO and Cofounder of Watch Duty, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, responsible for real-time wildfire alerts and intelligence across the American West.  Utilized by millions of residents and first responders alike, Watch Duty was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Innovative Companies, Fast Company’s #1 non-profit, and Apple’s Social Impact Design Award in 2025.

Previously, John spent many years in Silicon Valley focusing on underserved markets that had been overlooked by technologists. In 2012 he founded Zenput as CTO, focused on retail food services operations which was acquired in 2022. After living in San Francisco for 16 years, he moved off-the-grid to Sonoma County in 2020 where he was faced with the terrifying reality of life in the wildlands without the information needed to make informed decisions.  Having developed software for over 30 years beginning at age 8, John found himself facing a life or death problem he had to solve not only for himself, but for his community. 

Today Watch Duty has a team of 25 staff and over 300 volunteers who are active and retired firefighters, dispatchers, first responders, and reporters.  They currently serve 22 states and are poised to expand across the country with their wildfire alerting and then expanding to all natural disasters.

When John is not serving his community, he can be found in his workshop woodworking, fabricating, restoring, and building with his hands.

Disclosure information not submitted.

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