James Mueller

James Mueller has been immersed in the nonprofit sector throughout his career-four decades of experience working with or serving on nonprofit boards. From higher education to health care to social service agencies, he has experienced every imaginable combination of good people doing good things through board service. Completing his undergraduate education at Cornell University, followed by four years at a seminary, he was drawn to community service. The first ten years of his career were...See more

James Mueller has been immersed in the nonprofit sector throughout his career-four decades of experience working with or serving on nonprofit boards. From higher education to health care to social service agencies, he has experienced every imaginable combination of good people doing good things through board service. Completing his undergraduate education at Cornell University, followed by four years at a seminary, he was drawn to community service. The first ten years of his career were devoted to his undergraduate alma mater, followed by executive positions at Northwestern University, Advocate Healthcare, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, and Goodwill Industries. After nearly thirty years in the sector, he accepted the position of COO at Grenzebach Glier & Associates, an international philanthropy consulting firm. As the father of a son with severe physical disabilities, Mueller moved to a climate that was much kinder to his son's health complications, where he established his consulting firm, James Mueller & Associates, in 2005. In his recently released book, Lyrics of a Broken Heart: A Father's Journey Toward Wholeness, he writes about his very personal journey from grief to emotional wholeness. As an author, lecturer, philanthropic and organizational strategist, and nonprofit governance expert, Mueller shares a lifetime of learning with nonprofit boards and executives. His work helping nonprofits advance their missions has earned him recognition internationally. He has worked with nonprofit board members ranging from those who have held the highest positions of success and prominence internationally-including Fortune 100 company executives, enterprise-building entrepreneurs, and legislators in Washington, DC-to local communities and neighborhoods, where good people with big hearts-whether small business owners, retailers, or company employees-ensure the health and wellbeing of their nonprofits. James Mueller's long list of clients includes the Smithsonian, the Philadelphia 76ers, the American Association of University Professors, the Alaska Wilderness League, Florida International University, Pine Crest School, the Wilderness Land Trust, Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Broward College, the Caribbean Policy Development Center, the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Selfless Love Foundation, and the Association for the Advancement of Physician and Provider Recruitment. Mueller writes from the heart. The pages of this book are filled with intelligent and practical advice interwoven with a lifetime of stories about working with nonprofit boards. See less