Co-Founder and Principal of Sustainable Systems. President of Global Urban Development. Lead Consultant for the East Bay Broadband. Skilled and experienced Strategist and Consultant on sustainable economic development, regional initiatives, and web strategies. 

James has decades of experience specializing in sustainable economic development and socially responsible investments. He is Co-Founder and Principal of Sustainable Systems, a for-profit corporation, founded in 1998, that undertakes initiatives that pursue sustainable economic and community development.  

As a Principal of Sustainable Systems, James has served as Lead Consultant for various initiatives including the East Bay Broadband Consortium, a regional initiative designed to encourage the East Bay to become a “smart region” with Gigabit Broadband infrastructure and to help the East Bay bridge the digital divide.

He was Lead Consultant to the Bay Area Council for the Bay Area Family of Funds a $300 million double bottom line regional initiative made up of two smart growth funds and a venture fund pursuing market rates of financial return and significant economic, social, and environmental return by investing in low and moderate neighborhoods in the Bay Area.

Previously James was also Lead Consultant to the San Antonio Mayor’s Office for Mission Verde, a Sustainable Economic Development Strategy for San Antonio, Texas and to Sarasota County for Prosperity in Paradise, a Sustainable Economic Development Strategy for Sarasota County, Florida.

James co-founded Oakland’s first tech incubator/accelerator, the Communication Technology Cluster

He was the Co-Coordinator of three Building the Sustainable Economy conferences (two in New York City and one in Havana) that brought together leaders in the sustainable development movement from around the United States and the world.  

James is Board Treasurer of the Alliance for Community Development working to increase access to capital and other resources for underrepresented entrepreneurs; Co-Founder and Board Member of the TechEquity Collaborative engaging the tech community to build a more equitable inclusive 21^st Century economy; President of Global Urban Development, an international organization working for sustainable innovation and inclusive economic development; and, Board President of Tamalpa Institute, an expressive arts organization. 

Before Co-Founding Sustainable Systems, James was Senior Vice President of Progressive Asset Management, the first full-service broker-dealer specializing in socially responsible investment. 

James believes passionately in putting the craft of business in the service of economic, social, and ecological justice. It was with this mission for a sustainable capitalism that he co-founded Sustainable Systems. 

He is the author or co-author of numerous papers on Sustainable Economic Development and essays for the Planetary Philosophy website.