James holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College and is a graduate of the MLIS program at the University of Maryland's College of Information. He worked for two years as a librarian with the Prince George's County Memorial Library System and maintains a strong interest in the future of public libraries. His background and experience include bookselling in several independent bookstores; volunteer service in the Peace Corps in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo); graduate education in anthropology; publicity, marketing, editorial, and sales roles in academic and scholarly publishing; public school teaching; public relations; and user experience design for the web.
In his current role, James manages and monitors a portfolio of grants and applications focused on building equitable digital communities, including open educational resources (OER), digital inclusion and digital equity, data privacy and security, open data, public interest/civic technology, and cybersecurity.