Jim began his career as a lawyer at the Boston firm of Hale and Dorr and as a Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General. He then served as Chief of Staff to Lieutenant Governor John Kerry, Policy Director of Mr. Kerry’s first successful campaign for United States Senate, and Executive Assistant to Senator Kerry.

Jim was Massachusetts’ Undersecretary of Environmental Affairs from 1989-91, where he directed work on all major policy issues. He was the chief representative of the Dukakis administration in negotiations that led to the enactment of Massachusetts’ landmark Toxics Use Reduction Act in 1989.

After leaving government service in early 1991, Jim became Chief Operating Officer of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a Washington-based international organization of public interest entrepreneurs, prior to returning home to Massachusetts and becoming President of ELM in 1993. An expert on implementation, Jim has frequently consulted with other northeastern states on improving their environmental programs and has taught or lectured at several colleges and universities including Brandeis, Harvard, Trinity, Tufts, Wellesley, and Williams. His writings on environmental and civic topics have appeared in many publications including the Boston Globe. In 1995, Harvard Law School awarded him a Wasserstein Fellowship for his contribution to public interest law.

Jim served as co-chair of the Environmental Issues Committee of Deval Patrick’s successful 2006 campaign for Governor of Massachusetts, and as co-chair of Governor Patrick’s Energy & Environment Transition Working Group.

Jim holds a B.A. in Political Science from Trinity College (CT), a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He lives with his wife and their two children in Arlington, Massachusetts.