Jim is a committed environmentalist and champion of policies that balance economic growth with respect for the natural world and its species.
For two decades Jim has served in non-profit management and board roles. In 2023 Jim joined the board of Root Capital and currently serves as chair of the Governance Committee. Since 2017 Jim has been a trustee of The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts and served as board chair from 2020 – 2023. He is past chair and board member of MicroLoan Foundation USA, which provides seed capital to groups of women in sub-Saharan Africa so that they can start businesses.
Prior to his tenure in the non-profit sector, Jim spent twenty years working in the oil and gas industry, first for Mobil Oil Corporation and then for BP. His career included senior roles in marketing, finance, project management and human resources, mostly in Europe. From 2007 until 2011, Jim served as a director of BP Pension Trustees Ltd, a large private sector pension fund.
Jim earned the Diploma in Wines and Spirits, from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust in London in 2011 and began a wine investment fund called Meritage Wine Group. This company invests in fine wine and provides consulting services with respect to buying, storing, evaluating and selling rare wines.
Jim has a degree in history from Connecticut College and served for three years in the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa, managing the construction of schools. Afterward, he earned an MBA from the University of Chicago. He speaks French fluently.
Jim is married and father of three children, lives in Concord, MA, and enjoys overseas travel, scuba diving, and cultivating a wide variety of tree species at his home. He is also a fourth-degree black belt and part-time instructor in karate.