Johan and Judy Maurer moved to Elektrostal, Russia, in July 2008, to begin teaching conversational English and serving as "citizen diplomats" in Russia's Moscow region.
Johan's first visit to Russia was in 1975, near the end of his studies of Russian language and literature at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Around 1991 he first heard about Elektrostal through members of the Quaker US-USSR Committee. In 1994 he made the first of many visits. Johan spent the fall of 2007 in Elektrostal to begin consulting and teaching at the New Humanities Institute and putting down roots in the community.