Dr. Kimberly M. James, PhD

Dr. Kimberly M. James is a seasoned researcher, educator and evaluation expert with over fifteen years of experience. Currently, she serves as Director, Head of Metrics for Kind Capital, a leading impact investing firm and advisory platform that leverages the full spectrum of impact invest tools in collaboration with leading stakeholder partners across the ecosystem to drive scalable, sustainable impact. Her responsibilities include leading the evaluation work on developing and advising on impact investing metrics. She has experience offering tailored evaluation, research, strategic planning and technical assistance services for the philanthropic and private sectors. Previously, she served as a Planning, Evaluation and Research Office for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. There, she provided leadership in rebuilding the Foundation’s evaluation ecosystem, including developing and prototyping an innovative programmatic dashboard scorecard tool to help track progress and impact, map grant-making investments and learn from strategy. Kim worked collaboratively with multiple programming teams, grantee partners and external consultants to identify and to develop relevant evaluation approaches and metrics. She has also served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University (Atlanta) and the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. Kimberly received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Urban Studies from Trinity University, San Antonio and her doctorate in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Since 2007, Kim has served on the editorial board of The Journal of Race and Policy.