Michael James

Mr. James is a national award-winning diversity, equity and inclusion leader with a 20-year record of driving talent management best practices in public, nonprofit and corporate settings. With decades of personal, professional and volunteer experience in Boston's communities of color, Mr. James is known for cultivating, engaging and energizing a multicultural workforce to diversify recruitment and maximize productivity and retention.

Prior to joining CHA, Mr. James was the senior vice president of human resources at the Old Colony YMCA in Brockton, Mass., where he oversaw talent management for 2,100 employees. As senior vice president, he facilitated staff diversity, inclusion and the Global Committee, yielding assessment ratings 25% above the national average. As director of human resources at the YMCA of Greater Boston from 2014-2017, he led efforts to develop and implement policies, programs and strategic planning focused on talent management for 2,500 employees. From 2011-2013, Mr. James was director of human resources and chief diversity and inclusion officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, where he led employee engagement and change management and enhanced BCBSMA's workplace brand in communities of color through business and community networks. He also served as chief human resources officer and chief diversity officer at Boston Architectural College, managing policies and programs to promote and sustain both workforce and student diversity and inclusion, and implementing community relations grant-making and service-learning activities to foster new private and public partnerships and increase employee and student diversity.

Mr. James received his bachelor's degree from University of Massachusetts Boston with a major in psychology and a minor in philosophy, and he also holds a master's degree in business from Suffolk University with a concentration in human resources management.

Education

• Suffolk University - Sawyer Business School
  MBA, Business Management

• Boston Center for Community Justice
  Lead Boston Alumni, Social Justice Leadership Development Program

• UMass Center for Collaborative Leadership-Emerging Leaders Program Alumni
  Leadership Development Program

• The Partnership, Inc.
  Leadership Development Program

• William James College
  Organizational Psychology

• University of Massachusetts Boston
  BA, Psychology

• YMCA of the USA
  Multicultural Executive Development Institute