Jim Johnson was Corporation Counsel for NYC and now serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Trinity Church Wall Street. Each of those institutions has served the city for more than 325 years. In those two leadership roles, he has grappled with the challenges of housing and homelessness, inequality, and development. His public service on both sides of the Hudson includes both nearly two years as special counsel to Governor Murphy managing the state’s role in Atlantic City social and economic development and seven years as federal monitor in a fair housing settlement in Westchester County.

He was a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLC for 12 years and served as a senior official in the Clinton Administration, including as Under Secretary of the Treasury. He was a candidate for Governor in the 2017 NJ Democratic primary.

Jim is a graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and his board service includes the Harvard Board of Overseers, the Brennan Center for Justice, where he served as Chair, and the Citizens Campaign where he currently serves as Vice Chair. He has also served on various arts boards. In addition to his current service on the Board of the Academy of American Poets, Jim served on the boards of the Montclair Arts Museum, the Montclair Film Festival and Jazz House Kids.

He is married to Nancy Northup who is the President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. They have four adult children.