Team

Jim works with the team to expand and manage the portfolio & pipeline, build the donor and talent base, and develop thought leadership for the Foundation. He currently sits on the board of DRK grantees JUST Capital, Mobility Capital Finance, the Remuseum project, CatchLight, Common Goal, EducationSuperHighway, Service Year, The GroundTruth Project, Pérez Art Museum Miami, and The Africa Center. He previously served on the boards of DRK grantees CAST, Collaborative for Fresh Produce, IDEO.org, Landed, OpenBiome, Open Up Resources,  SIRUM, StriveTogether, TurboVote/Democracy Works, The Earth Genome, The Empowerment Plan,  and Worldreader.

He is also an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and a Senior Research Fellow at the Hauser Institute for Civil Society and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University. At the Kennedy School, his research interests include understanding the role of private capital in solving public problems, extending the capacity of foundations to solve complex societal issues and the sustainability of public and private systems when governments disinvest in these systems. At HKS, he teaches MLD 836, a foundational course on the role of for-profit and non-profit social enterprises in creating social impact and lasting impact when tackling complex societal issues.

Among his many board affiliations, he was a trustee of The Kresge Foundation from 2005-2024 and chair of its Investment Committee for 14 years and founded its Social Investment practice, which today, is one of the largest in the world. In addition to his DRK boards, Jim serves on the board of the Healthy Americas Foundation (National Alliance for Hispanic Health Foundation), and a number of boards of arts and culture institutions including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Dallas Symphony Association, and on the Board of Advisors of the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College. He is a Trustee Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, an Overseer Emeritus of the Boston Symphony and an Emeritus Trustee of the board of the Lizard Island Research Foundation in Australia. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization.

In his board service, Jim has served on the Investment Committees of boards with aggregate endowments in excess of $4.5 B as well as currently serving on numerous finance, investment and/or audit committees of these boards.

Jim is a nationally recognized lecturer, panelist, and speaker on nonprofit organizations, social enterprise, the role of boards of organizations, impact investing and the institutional role of philanthropy in solving complex societal issues. His prior experience includes 22 years in the private sector including as a consultant at Deloitte and serving as the CEO of two public companies. His government service includes serving as a legislative aide and speechwriter in the United States Senate, a run for the NJ State Assembly, election to two terms as a Selectman in Manchester by the Sea and an appointment by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Jim has written numerous articles, op-ed pieces and commentaries for newspapers, magazines and radio including NPR’s Morning Edition, The Boston Globe, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Hampshire Daily Gazette, Inc. Magazine, as well as cases for the Harvard Business School (EducationSuperHighway) and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (The Role of Philanthropy in Community Revitalization). A lifelong sailor and pilot, he has published two recent books, A Visual Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast, published by McGraw Hill in May of 2006, and A Visual Cruising Guide to Southern New England, published in November of 2009.

Jim earned his AB from Dartmouth College, his MPA from Harvard, his J.D. from Case Western Reserve School of Law and an M.F.A. from Lesley University. He is a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 2008, he was awarded the Dartmouth Alumni Award for service to the College and to his community and in 2024 was named to Case Western Reserve Law Schools Society of Benchers the highest alumni recognition of the Law School.