After spending a tour of duty in the Navy, Jim joined a suburban Chicago Fire Department, retiring in 2015. He realized quickly that a sedentary life is not his style, he began volunteering with Team Rubicon eventually turning his love for improving communities and emergency management into a career with them. He met and worked alongside ToolBank Disaster Services while on deployments with Team Rubicon where ToolBank  and TR would work together to restore communities affected by disasters.

When ToolBank USA put out a call for an Executive Director for the Windy City ToolBank Jim knew that it was serendipity knocking on his door. His family had remained in Chicago and he now could return to being near them.

Since then Jim has worked to establish and grow the Windy City ToolBank. His drive to work with volunteers and support their efforts is what motivates him to follow his passion of building a ToolBank resource in Chicagoland. 

“If cities like Baltimore, Atlanta and Houston have thriving ToolBanks, doesn’t Chicago deserve that too?”