James Rhee is an expert in change. He unites mathematical and creative systems to identify and amplify purpose and goodwill, creating sustainable value through the design of human-centered operations.
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James Rhee
Impact Entrepreneur, Investor, Educator, Former Chairman & CEO of Ashley Stewart & Goodwill Strategist
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Rhee managed billions of dollars of growth and distressed capital at two leading institutions. But, he thought there was a better way to marry financial and social capital. So, in 2009, he founded FirePine Group, an impact platform that designs bespoke, data-driven solutions for companies in people-centric industries such as retail-consumer and education. FirePine has invested the capital of the world’s most sophisticated investors. He brings his unique human-centered approach to every situation he touches. Through his emerging brand, Red Helicopter, Rhee is creating a global community united behind leveraging social goodwill to create tangible economic value and redefine the meaning of success.
His underlying focus on serving human needs through capitalism is evident in his globally celebrated work at Ashley Stewart. For seven years, Rhee challenged orthodoxy by serving as investor and CEO of a twice-bankrupt national retailer that had served and employed plus-sized Black women for decades. While fighting against crippling odds, Rhee and his new colleagues authored and executed marketing, philosophical, organizational, and mathematical changes that mirrored the true ethos of Ashley Stewart. These initiatives transformed an obscure and failed brand with decades of operating losses into a cutting-edge industry leader whose transformation story, and homerun sale, has been featured in the world’s leading conferences and media outlets.
Rhee’s practical change philosophies are transforming boardrooms and classrooms alike. Guided by his passion for spreading goodwill and driving systems-level change, Rhee regularly teaches the world’s leading for-profit, educational, and philanthropic organizations how to rethink leadership, process, and profit. He catalyzes and invests in leaders who drive change through his board membership of JP Morgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways, CEO Action for Racial Equity, and Conscious Capitalism. At Howard University, he serves as the Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship, Professor of Entrepreneurship, and Senior Adviser to the Center for Women, Gender, and Global Leadership. At MIT, Rhee serves as the Executive-in-Residence and Strategic Advisor at the Leadership Center, a Senior Lecturer at the Sloan School of Management, and the Investor-in-Residence at Sloan’s Legatum Center.
His life has been the subject of feature stories sponsored by the likes of JP Morgan Chase, EY and Soledad O’Brien. In addition, his inspirational story has been featured in media outlets such as the Good Business Issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, Harvard Business Review, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Thrive Global, USA Today, Inc. Magazine, Forbes, Women’s Wear Daily, the Huffington Post, and Morgan Stanley’s Access and Opportunity podcast. Rhee is also a regional winner of the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the winner of one of five 2016 Power Player Awards granted by the National Retail Federation, the recipient of the 2017 Black Retail Action Group Business Achievement Award, the 2018 Temple Fox School of Business Information Technology Innovator Award, the 2018 Essex County Urban League Centennial William M. Ashby Award for community building, and a 2019 One To World Fulbright Award.
Rhee received his BA with honors from Harvard College and his JD with honors from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He lives outside Boston with his wife and three children. He is a former director of the American Repertory Theater and the National Retail Federation. He is currently working on a book
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Topics
Topics
The value of kindness at work
Kindness can go a long way when it comes to reshaping a business. Having saved a fashion company from the brink of bankruptcy, entrepreneur James Rhee shares the value of investing in a culture of compassion at work — and shows why we should all lead with our hearts.
Business and Personal Transformation—Money, Life & Joy
Impact Investing—Kindness & Math™
Turning Distress into Venture—The Art of the Turnaround
Movement Building, Marketing & Influence
Building a Performance Culture through Diversity and Inclusion
Operationalizing and Measuring Purpose
Videos
Videos
Closing Keynote: Leading with Kindness
James Rhee: The value of kindness at work | TED
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