A “lifelong community planner” is a good term to describe James.   Born, raised and educated in several cities within Los Angeles County, he has studied the interrelationship between person consciousness raising (new thought), neighborhood development and community safety.  During his freshman year at the University of Washington he decided that Participatory Planning and Urban Development would be his career path. After graduate school, James worked both in the public and private sectors.

Personally, witnessing the beginnings of the Los Angeles civil unrest in 1965 and 1992 and working with homeowners for 1st response recovery from hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, gave him a unique insight into the power of community resilience.

For 11 years he served as a Planning Commissioner and many more as a visionary entrepreneur. His mission; the creation of a new leadership tool to facilitate collaborative partnerships between key stakeholder, diverse ethnicities, and institutional partners to address the root causes of fractured community These experiences, lead to founding the National Institute of Community Enlightenment organization.

Some of his civic activities include:

 

• SOKA University – Community partner, Community Building presenter

 

• California State University Long Beach – Member of Center for Community Engagement

 

• Community Based Learning Collaborative, University of Southern California -       Steering Committee Member

 

• Los Angeles Public Works Integrated Waste Water Management Plan, 

Steering Committee Member

 

• Alameda Corridor, Transportation Steering Committee Member