Kay Coles James | |
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| Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia | |
| In office January 15, 2022 – August 29, 2023 Acting: January 15, 2022 – March 2, 2022 | |
| Governor | Glenn Youngkin |
| Preceded by | Kelly Thomasson |
| Succeeded by | Kelly Gee (acting) |
| President ofThe Heritage Foundation | |
| In office January 1, 2018 – December 1, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Edwin Feulner |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Roberts |
| Director of theOffice of Personnel Management | |
| In office July 11, 2001 – January 31, 2005 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Deputy | Dan Blair |
| Preceded by | Janice Lachance |
| Succeeded by | Linda M. Springer |
| 6thVirginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources | |
| In office January 15, 1994 – March 12, 1996 | |
| Governor | George Allen |
| Preceded by | Howard Cullum |
| Succeeded by | Robert Metcalf |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Madeline Kay Coles (1949-06-01)June 1, 1949 (age 75) Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Charles E. James Sr. |
| Education | Hampton University (BS) |
Kay Coles James (born June 1, 1949) is an American public official who served assecretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from January 2022 to August 2023, and as the director for theUnited States Office of Personnel Management under PresidentGeorge W. Bush from 2001 to 2005.[1] Previous to the OPM appointment, she served as Virginia secretary of health and human resources under then-GovernorGeorge Allen and was thedean ofRegent University's government school. She is the president and founder of the Gloucester Institute, a leadership training center for young African Americans.
On December 19, 2017, she was named president ofThe Heritage Foundation, a conservativethink tank.[2] She is the first African-American and the first woman to hold that position.[3] On March 22, 2021, she announced she was resigning from the foundation.[4]
Coles James grew up inRichmond, Virginia, the only girl among five boys. Her father did odd jobs as a guard, worked unloading ships when he was younger, and did maintenance work. Her father left home when she was around four years old. Coles James was then raised by her aunt and uncle, a schoolteacher and a businessman. Her mother had worked as a dental technician for her brother-in-law, and as a domestic, cleaning houses and caring for people, while trying to raise six children.
Coles James attended Chandler Junior High School andJohn Marshall High School in Richmond, in "largely all-white environments".[5] She is a graduate ofHampton University, where she majored in history and secondary education.
Coles James served on School Board forFairfax County, Virginia and theVirginia Board of Education, and on the board of the conservativeevangelicalFocus on the Family.[6] She was senior vice president of theFamily Research Council, a conservative,Christian right group and lobbying organization.[7] She has also served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer for One to One Partnership, a national umbrella organization for mentoring programs.[8]
She was appointed by PresidentRonald Reagan and reappointed by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush as member of the National Commission on Children, an advisory body on children issues.[9] She served under PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush as Associate Director of theWhite House Office of National Drug Control Policy and as Assistant Secretary for public affairs at theU.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In the mid-1990s, Coles James served as dean of the Robertson School of Government atRegent University inVirginia Beach, Virginia.[10] She also served as Convention Secretary for the1996 Republican National Convention, which nominatedBob Dole for president.
James served as the director for theUnited States Office of Personnel Management from 2001 to 2005 in theGeorge W. Bush administration.[10]Paul Krugman noted thatRegent University boasted of 150 graduates working in the Bush administration and criticized Coles James' tenure as the federal government's chief personnel officer when many of these hires occurred.[11]Charlie Savage, a journalist withThe Boston Globe, wrote that previous to Coles James, "veteran civil servants screened applicants and recommended whom to hire, usually picking top students from elite schools." Noting that Regent University is ranked a "tier four" school byU.S. News & World Report, the lowest score and essentially a tie for 136th place, Savage said Coles James' changes resulted in lawyers with more conservative credentials, less prior experience in civil rights law and the decline of the average ranking of the law school attended by the applicants.[10] In addition to Savage, other journalists made similar comments.[12][13][14]
On November 4, 2009, Governor-electBob McDonnell of Virginia named her one of the co-chairs of his transition committee[15] and subsequently appointed her as a member ofVirginia Commonwealth University's governing body, the Board of Visitors.[16]
On December 19, 2017,The Heritage Foundation, an influential conservativeWashington, D.C.–based public policy research institute, announced that Coles James would be its sixth president.[17] She had served as a member of the Board of Trustees since 2005.[18]
In 2018, she was nominated by PresidentDonald Trump to serve as one of two members of the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission.[19]
In March 2019, she was appointed to the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC), which was set up byGoogle to advise on the ethical implications ofArtificial Intelligence.[20] Her appointment proved controversial, with some employees of Google protesting.[21] On April 5, 2019, it was reported that Google had disbanded the ATEAC after more than 2,380 employees at Google signed a petition asking that Coles James be removed from it. The petition signers stated that "Coles James' positions on transgender and immigrant rights should have disqualified her from weighing in on AI ethics."[22]
Coles James resigned from the Heritage Foundation in 2021.[4]
Coles James later served as co-chair of Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin's transition steering committee and was appointed by Youngkin as secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia in January 2022.[23] She resigned in August 2023 to assume a leadership position for Youngkin's "Spirit of Virginia"PAC.[24]
Coles James is the mother of three adult children.[25] Her husband isCharles E. James Sr., who was the deputy assistant secretary of theOffice of Federal Contract Compliance Programs from 2001 to 2009 during theGeorge W. Bush administration.[26]
In 2004, Coles James was elected as a fellow of theNational Academy of Public Administration.[27]
Coles James was named one of theLibrary of Virginia'sVirginia Women in History in 2018.[28][29]
Coles James is the recipient of several honorary degrees, including a Doctor of Laws Degree fromPepperdine University.[30] Coles James is the recipient theUniversity of Virginia's Publius Award for Public Service, and the Spirit of Democracy Award for Public Policy Leadership from the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.[31]
As a 1994 graduation speaker atHampton University, Coles James said, "[The United States is] experiencing cultural AIDS. We as a country have been the victims of an immune system that has broken down. It's gone."[32]
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| Preceded by | Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |
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