Jim Nalepa

Jim Nalepa joined Academy Leadership in 2009 and currently has a franchise in South Florida.

He is certified to facilitate all Academy Leadership course offerings. His passion for the subject of leadership and his energetic delivery has been recognized with the Facilitation Excellence Award every year since its inception in 2013.

Concurrent with his Academy Leadership activities Jim is the Founder of Nalepa & Associates, a boutique Executive Search firm which has over 25 years’ experience of building Leadership teams for a diversified group of corporate clients. Jim is regarded as one of the country’s top Executive search professionals.

He has been a guest commentator on leadership and executive performance at The Kellogg Business School of Northwestern University. Jim has been cited in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Crain's Chicago Magazine, Working Woman and BOSS Magazine.

Jim graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1978. He served in various leadership capacities in the United States Army, first with the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany and then with the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C. He was a member of the Grenada Rescue Mission in 1983. He left active service as a Captain in 1984.

Upon leaving active service, Jim became Director of Recruiting for Pfizer Inc. the world's largest Pharmaceutical Company. In 1988, Jim founded Junior Officer Recruiting, Inc. JOR, trained and placed selected junior military officers with Fortune 250 companies. Moving upward to the Executive Search ranks, he joined DHR as Executive Vice President and then became President of Morgan International.

In 2001, Jim founded Nalepa & Associates to recapture a client centric vision and focus on leadership, which he believes is the most critical skill set of any executive.

Jim is the Past President of the West Point Society of Chicago, a former board member of the USO of Illinois, and a Life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion.