References – Helixx Partners, LLC

Michael J. Meredith, Ph.D.

Professor at the Kenan-Flagler Business School (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Jim is one of the single most bright, thoughtful, interesting, and inspiring people I’ve ever met. I’m not sure I’ve ever worked with someone so capable in all 4 of the leadership capabilities: sense-making, relating, visioning, and inventing. Further, his ability to grapple with complexity and distil it into meaning is a hallmark. He exemplifies the life-long learner, and he has deep, cross-disciplinary knowledge. Best of all, his love for helping others translates clearly into his decisions and actions. The icing on the cake is he is flat fun to be around. I’m fortunate to call him a colleague and friend.

Gina Judge

Vice President, Global Head of Internal Communications, PepsiCo

Jim partnered with PepsiCo demonstrating insight and agility on our activation with John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” YouTube series. Our team was appreciative and impressed with his passion for the connection between purpose and performance. 5th even took it one step further to connect us with other partners who could help us engage people in the movement to fundraise for the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund.

Rick Vogel

Vice President of Business Strategy Consulting at Kyrdryl

In simple terms, Jim is a brilliant visionary. But this description is grossly inadequate to describe his unique talents. Jim brings a deep understanding of the thinkers and events of the past and present to any situation and he uses that knowledge to anticipate future trends and then prepare the team to get there. He sees further and clearer than others and brings a heart of deep compassion to the vision. He is a superb communicator who articulates a vision and then seeks to achieve it and impact the world for good in powerful and profound ways….. and he succeeds. I have never met anyone else who embodies this combination of vision and compassion like Jim.

Brianne Bayer

VP of Marketing, Arbor Day Foundation

I had the pleasure of working with Jim and his team on a global digital activation for the Arbor Day Foundation – the campaign engaged nearly 5,000 donors from more than 200 countries. Jim really made the campaign hum. He provided strategic ideation and direction for activation as well as valuable insights on results. Jim is a true gem – he is a great partner but also just an all-around wonderful human.

Bart Myers

Founder, CEO Countable | Publisher Causes.com

Jim is an incredible connector and visionary. Through his amazing network and collaborative approach, he can see the transformative potential of bringing together people from different walks of life and backgrounds, in profound ways that we may have never seen or known on our own. These connections can drive real world impact in fundamental ways. It’s a delight to see Jim in action.

Eric Bolton

Technical Director at Qorvo

I’ve worked with Jim closely on a number of projects over the past 10 years and he is without hesitation one of my most valued colleagues. He is highly regarded as a unique visionary across a broad range of fields and brings passion and excellence to every one of his engagements – a brilliant leader that lifts the minds and hearts of those around him to new heights.

Pratik Gauri

Founder and CEO of 5ire.org |TIMES 40u40

Working with Jim is one of my biggest blessings without a doubt. I call him a superman – He is the best storyteller and purpose leader i’ve ever known and his passion and love to lift people while building purpose driven businesses is phenomenal. I get amazed by his ability to bring new innovative ideas every single day ; we ( our team ) learn so much from him every day – he is an UNSTOPPABLE JUGGERNAUT – he is a partner and a dream. I wish i can create impact that he has already created by the time i turn 50 – He is just EPIC – I’m proud to be alongside him on this lifelong journey of making our world a better place to live in.

Philippe Wells

Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurial Finance at Brandeis International Business School

I had the pleasure of welcoming Jim as a speaker to my Social Impact Investing course. Jim’s knowledge, warmth, and accessibility all shine through so strongly that you can practically feel his welcoming presence, even through Zoom.

His style is personable and conversational, and yet he is still able to convey a tremendous amount of information on the field of social impact – the history, the business and interpersonal dimensions, as well as some of the exciting paths the field is taking as it continues to evolve.

Jim is an expert in the material, and is well versed in all dimensions of investing for social impact. In addition, and I believe that this is where the deeper impact of his expertise becomes clear, he manages to convey his own genuine excitement for social impact and leaves the group wanting to go out and make some of these great ideas happen right away.

Thanks Jim.

Grant Schreiber

Chief Editor, Real Leaders Magazine

I’m not sure Jim ever sleeps. Whenever I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with him on exciting new projects of global significance, he responds within the hour — regardless of where he is. Jim goes to the action, and doesn’t wait for it to appear. His passion for tackling social problems with big thinking, and creative strategy is helping to make the world a better place, and his positive energy will pull you along.

Lars Bengston

Chief Content Officer at Havas Health

Jim and his incredible team of guardian angels at 5th Element Group showed me that the impossible is, indeed, quite possible with the right people. Within 24 hours of knowing Jim and his team, we set off on a collective mission to re-write what omniwin brand marketing can look like. Jim is a master brand steward who’s industry acumen and extensive network come second to his unwavering spirit and massive heart. Jim helped us at “Some Good News: With John Krasinski” secure a perfect-fit brand partner for our 5th episode, creating an authentic give-back moment that will be studied by brand and media companies as “how its done”.

Meeting and working with Jim has been nothing short of an awakening experience. To meet someone with such a true-north embedded in their DNA is rare, and I look forward to breaking and re-setting our own records for years to come.

Elissa Fisher Harris

Founder, Strategist, Activist, 1% for the Planet Member

Jim is an incredibly gifted and multifaceted global leader. During his remarkable career path, Jim has implemented a combination of creative and tactical talents and skill sets to hit high level business KPI’s while reaching tangible social impact goals for brands, impact investors, donors and NGOs. He is the perfect blend of social entrepreneur and traditional corporate executive, which lends a unique ability to create effective, outside the box strategies that offer maximum results. Jim also has vast and deep knowledge of historical and relevant world topics that adds major value to the strategies he creates. The thing I love about Jim the most is his genuine love for humans and the deep desire that his work must always lifts others out of disparity into prosperity. He cares deeply about human beings and issues that threaten our world and that comes through in his work and his professional and personal relationships. It brings me immense joy to work alongside Jim–a true visionary that embodies profit for purpose by successfully intertwining his intellect and his heart to amplify impact.

Ed Martin

Managing Partner, 5th Element Group PBC

Jim is just one of the best in the world around taking purpose driven businesses and creating maximum impact. He has had an incredibly successful career across a wide range of ventures. His expertise covers a tremendous range of areas and functions. From Story telling, and movie making, to M&A.

He makes every team better. He brings value at all levels and I’m incredibly fortunate to work along side such a wonderful human being!

Jakob Trollbäck

Founder of The New Division, Creator of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Jim is a great connector who makes things happen. His support for The Climate Action Playbook was instrumental in getting the project launched in Davos 2020. He is generous with his time and network which has helped us to get our communication and ideas around leadership for the Sustainable Development Goals out to an even larger audience. I highly recommend working with Jim!

Todd Brooks

CEO at FalconStor Software

Jim is one of the most gifted visionaries and entrepreneurs I have ever worked with. He is passionate about his work and is absolutely committed to his clients and their initiatives.