James Rhee designs and funds systems that create value by bridging peoples, disciplines, and ideas. Above all, he gives us permission to be human. His national bestselling book, red helicopter – a parable for our times, which chronicles the inspiration and operating system behind his transformational tenure as Chairman and CEO of Ashley Stewart, made its April 2024 debut as the #1 non-fiction book across all channels and media. Through red helicopter, a platform of the same name, James is teaching and investing behind leaders committed to a better way.
In addition to working with leading CEOs and organizations, he teaches students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management and Duke Law School as Senior Lecturer, and at Howard University, where he serves as the Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship. His family office, FirePine Group, leverages his experience managing billions of dollars of private equity capital and funds stage-agnostic innovation, broadly defined. He is working on multiple related music, film and education projects. His TED Talk and Dare to Lead interview with Brené Brown have captured the imagination of millions.
James is a former honoree of the EY Entrepreneurship Program, as well as a former board member of the National Retail Federation, whose foundation honored him with its Power Player Award for those leaders most impacting the future of retail. He is a Frederick Douglass honoree of the New York Urban League, the recipient of both the Council of Korean Americans and Korean American Story Trailblazer Award, and an honoree of One To World’s Fulbright Award.
He was elected to be a member of the inaugural Entrepreneur-to-Entrepreneur class by Ashoka, the global pioneer in social entrepreneurship, and he was a member of the inaugural board of advisors of JP Morgan Chase’s groundbreaking Advancing Black Pathways initiative.
Learn more about James:
- “The Value of Kindness at Work” TED talk by James Rhee
- James Rhee on Kindness, Math, and the Power of Goodwill – Dare to Lead Podcast with Brené Brown
- red helicopter – James’s book