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Foundation / Trustees
Governance

The trustees
of the
foundation.

The T. James Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees with fiduciary responsibility for the foundation's mission, endowment, and grantmaking. In keeping with the privacy of our family trustees, only the founder's information is published here. The full Board is identified in the foundation's incorporation records and its annual Form 990-PF.

The Founder

A steward of
a long horizon

The Board of Trustees is responsible for protecting the integrity of the mission, exercising fiduciary care over the endowment, and ensuring that every grant the foundation makes is consistent with the principles set out in our founding charter. The Board serves without compensation. The founder, profiled below, is the principal officer and public voice of the foundation.

Trevor James, Founder & CEO

Trevor James

Founder & CEO

Trevor James is the founder and chief executive of the T. James Foundation. He is also the founder and CEO of T. James Enterprises Inc., a family-held holding company with operating ventures in financial technology, digital education, travel media, and SaaS infrastructure. He established the foundation in 2026 to consolidate the family's philanthropic commitments and to extend, at greater scale, the work he had been quietly underwriting for years.

Across his career, Trevor has built a portfolio of mission-aligned ventures focused on first-generation wealth-builders, educational access, and economic mobility — themes that map directly onto the foundation's program areas. He is a vocal advocate for trust-based philanthropy and serves as the foundation's principal voice on grantmaking strategy, investment policy, and partner relationships.

Foundation Role Founder & CEO
Joined Founding Trustee, 2026
Term Permanent
Compensation Uncompensated
The Board

A private
family board

The foundation is governed by a three-member Board of Trustees. Two of those seats are held by family trustees who serve in a private capacity. We respect their preference and do not publish their information here.

Board Composition

Three Trustees

The Board includes the founder, profiled above, and two additional family trustees. All three serve as fiduciaries of the foundation, with collective responsibility for grantmaking, investment policy, and the integrity of the mission.

Privacy Policy

Public Disclosure

In keeping with the family's preference, only the founder is publicly profiled. The full Board of Trustees is identified in the foundation's incorporation records and disclosed annually in our Form 990-PF, which is available through standard public sources.

Decision-Making

Collective Action

All grant commitments, investment decisions, and material governance matters are reviewed and approved by the full Board. The founder serves as the foundation's principal officer and public voice, but acts within the authority granted by the Board collectively.

Governance Practices

How we
govern ourselves

We hold ourselves to the operating standards of well-governed private foundations and publish our governance practices openly. Where we deviate from convention, we explain why.

Meeting Cadence

The Board meets quarterly, with at least one annual in-person convening. Material decisions are documented in Board resolutions retained in the foundation's permanent records.

Conflict of Interest

All trustees disclose potential conflicts annually and recuse from any vote where a personal or financial interest is implicated. Disclosures are reviewed and retained in the foundation's permanent records.

External Audit

The foundation engages an independent audit firm for the preparation of Form 990-PF and the review of annual financials. Audit findings are summarized in the foundation's annual report.

Transparency

Audited financials and Form 990-PF are published openly each year. Grant lists are disclosed annually. Material governance changes are communicated to partners as they occur.

Compensation

Trustees serve without compensation. Reasonable expenses related to foundation business may be reimbursed in accordance with our written expense policy.

Succession

The foundation maintains a written succession plan addressing trustee continuity and the orderly transition of leadership across generations of family stewardship.

Continue

Explore further

The mission that motivates our work, the programs where we apply it, and the principles that govern our practice.

Mission

The convictions that shaped us

Our founding charter, the founder's letter, and the beliefs that guide our work.

→ Programs

Three pillars of generational stability

The interconnected program areas where we focus our grantmaking.

→ Approach

Principles that govern our giving

How we think about partnership, patience, and the practice of philanthropy.

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