James is a Mikva alumnus and is extremely passionate about sharing his life experiences to empower young men and women. He started working with young people in his high schools years through a basketball coaching program and has since expanded on his youth work portfolio by being a coach and a mentor at Windy City Hoops. At Mikva, he started out with facilitating the Peace and Leadership Council at Fenger and Hope high schools previously served as the Director for the Juvenile Justice Council. James now leads the Neighborhood Leadership Initiative (NLI), a program which he initiated. The NLI program brings Mikva’s youth-centered approach to community-based decision-making.