As impact investor, CEO, and educator, James Rhee empowers people, brands and companies to fulfill their true potential by marrying capital with purpose. He creates value through values, transformation through self-reflection, and reinvention through Kindness and Math™. The story of the whys and the hows of the remarkable transformation of Ashley Stewart under his leadership has inspired millions of people, as well as the world’s leading businesses and organizations, to do better by being better.
James has dedicated his life to making knowledge, opportunity and capital accessible to all. He is currently shaping the arc of leadership through his role as Visiting Lecturer at Duke Law School, Senior Lecturer at The MIT Leadership Center, and Council Member of JP Morgan Chase Advancing Black Pathways. His lectures on Money, Life, and Joy marry capitalism with spiritualism and offer listeners a playbook on how to drive dramatic transformation through the delicate interplay of soul and brand, servant leadership and people-centered technology.
The unprecedented transformation of Ashley Stewart is proof of how trust and joy, grounded in math and amplified through digital marketing, can overcome impossible odds and fuel individual and enterprise-wide innovation. It is a reminder of the power of collective action and the extraordinary of the ordinary, as well as a commentary on a potential way forward for the co-existence of humanism, capitalism and technology.
At its core, it is also the story of an unlikely friendship between a first generation Asian-American private equity investor (who raised his hand to become the self-described “least qualified CEO”) and a predominantly Black female employee group who placed their mutual trust in each other, learned from one another and then proceeded to quietly shock the world.
In a divided and harried world, James tells a story that bridges us to innovation and hope through generous and patient leadership, and his journey holds action.

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