The Honorable John de Jongh, Governor of the Virgin Islands

John Percy de Jongh, Jr. is the seventh elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands.

John Percy de Jongh, Jr. was born on November 13, 1957 and was raised on St. Thomas where he attended St. Peter and Paul School. He graduated from Catholic Central High School in Detroit and received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Economics from Antioch College (Yellow Spring, Ohio) in 1981.

He returned to the Virgin Islands to join the Tri-Island Economic Development Council and was then hired by Chase Manhattan Bank. During his six years there, de Jongh became the first Country Consumer Manager responsible for all consumer banking products in the U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and St. Maarten. Under his leadership, Chase installed the first off-site ATMs, increased home mortgage lending, and changed the bank’s focus to consumer lending in the BVI.

In 1984, de Jongh was appointed to the Industrial Development Commission, and in 1987 he was appointed as the youngest Commissioner of Finance. de Jongh also served as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority.

In 1993, de Jongh reentered the private sector as a Senior Managing Consultant for Public Financial Management, Inc. where he helped develop and implement Five-Year Plans for the cities of Philadelphia, New Haven, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., all of which dramatically improved their financial standing as a result of implementing these management initiatives. de Jongh served as President, Chief Operating Officer, and Director of Lockhart Companies Incorporated, a real estate and insurance holding company with properties and businesses in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and Turks & Caicos. He also served three terms as President of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce and the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, a philanthropic organization focused on children and families.

He has served as Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands since January 1, 2007. During his tenure, he has championed early childhood education issues and established the Children and Families Council, and pushed for economic diversification of the four islands that comprise the US Virgin Islands. He has instituted a Government-wide Energy Demand Reduction Program to reduce the Territory’s dependency on fossil fuels and has advanced the use of alternative and renewable energy sources in the Territory.

Governor de Jongh and his wife, Cecile René Galiber, of St. Croix, are the proud parents of three children, John III, René and Julian.