James is Managing Director at Risa Heller Communications and runs its Real Estate & Land Use Practice. He joined the firm in 2014. James has overseen strategic communications and served as a trusted advisor on behalf of some of the highest-profile and often contentious real estate, economic development and park projects in New York City and around the region.

Previously, James was Director of Communications at New Yorkers for Parks, a citywide parks research and advocacy organization, and Director of Public Affairs at the Alliance for Downtown New York, a Lower Manhattan business group. He began his career as a Desk Assistant at “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.” James earned an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was named to City & State’s 2015 40 Under 40 New York City Rising Stars list and serves on the boards of the Freshkills Park Alliance and New Heights Youth, a sports-based youth development organization.