ABOUT

James Wall

Principal, Communications & Strategy

James Wall is a national communications and marketing executive with more than 20 years of experience helping mission-driven organizations transform their brand, clarify their story, and scale their impact.

He has:

• Led enterprise-wide rebrands for legacy national nonprofits
• Built and scaled high-performing communications and marketing teams
• Repositioned organizations for relevance, revenue, and public trust
• Served on senior leadership teams guiding strategy through complex growth cycles

James brings under pressure — helping leaders cut through noise, align internal teams, and speak with authority to the audiences that matter most

Michelle Payne

Principal, Advancement & Enterprise Growth

Michelle Payne is a national advancement and enterprise growth executive with more than 20 years of experience aligning revenue, strategy, and leadership across workforce development, youth opportunity, education, healthcare, and equity-centered organizations.

Most recently, Michelle served as Vice President of Development at Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG), where she functioned as the organization’s most senior advancement leader, overseeing national fundraising strategy across 32 states. In that role, she:

• Built JAG’s advancement function from the ground up
• Expanded fundraising capacity by 150 percent
• Designed a three-year national revenue framework with an aggressive $12M stretch target
• Led toward a projected $2.5M close in a constrained funding environment
• Launched the Executive Breakfast Roundtable model, convening governors, U.S. senators, C-suite leaders, and national partners

Previously, Michelle served as Vice President of Community Outreach and Development at Waterford.org, where she led national engagement and revenue strategy and managed large, multidisciplinary teams in support of program growth and community impact.

Earlier in her career, Michelle held senior leadership roles at the American Diabetes Association, including National Corporate Development Officer and Executive Director, where she led multi-state operations and large, cross-functional teams within a significantly larger enterprise environment.

Michelle is known for building:

• Enterprise-scale advancement systems
• CEO- and board-aligned revenue strategy
• High-performing teams and infrastructure that convert strategy into sustained income