After receiving a B.A. from Emory University and M.S. degrees from both Georgia Tech and Georgia State University, Jim spent more than 20 years as a financial executive in the airline industry.  He finished his career as CFO of a telecommunications company in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area before moving to Asheville in 2010.  Amid several corporate roles, he notes a “sabbatical” as CFO of CARE USA, an international relief and development organization that operates in some 60 developing countries.  During nearly four years in this role, he was able to learn from across some of the most impoverished places in Southern Asia, Latin America and Africa.  With this came a clearer understanding that it is not initiative, but the circumstances of birth, that dictate an overwhelming proportion of opportunity across the world.  

In retirement, Jim has been involved with many local non-profit organizations. He has served, on the board of MANNA Food Bank for several years and will serve as its board president in 2022.  Jim is also a Guardian ad Litem, appointed by the Juvenile Court system of Buncombe County to represent the interests of children in the protective custody of foster care.