James Tyson

October 03, 2024

James B. Tyson, CFRE, has served the not-for-profit sector with distinction for over two decades. Building sustainable, successful fund raising programs at a number of organizations has been the hallmark of his career. He’s also played critical leadership roles in six capital campaigns.

While serving as Chief Advancement Officer at Morehouse College, he built the team which brought new relationships and increased support to the College. At the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, as Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement and Development, he brought new vision, coordination and leadership to the University by defining and articulating the interconnections between mission and current student aspirations; and how a new look at branding yields increases in enrollment and revenues. At Virginia State University where he served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement and sat on the University’s Foundation, Alumni and Research Foundation Boards, he led the University to increased gifts in every year of his tenure.

He led the institution advancement staff at Old Dominion University through the planning and beginning implementation stages of its first capital campaign. At the United Negro College Fund, he brought stability and credibility to an organization that had seen 4 directors in the five years prior to his appointment. He quickly turned around a failing franchise and exceeded goals in all but his first year at the helm.

He brought much needed public visibility to Devereux Florida and built a stellar board of advisors.

As Vice President for Development at the Central Florida YMCA, he oversaw the successful completion of several capital campaigns which supported the infrastructure and programmatic needs of the organization.

He led the charitable foundation and corporate social responsibility function by creation of the IOA Foundation, Inc. and served as a board member.

His previous consulting engagements led to the successful conception, implementation, monitoring and completion of two capital campaigns. 

A committed community servant, he demonstrated his belief in supporting the community by virtue of his varied volunteer leadership position, he served an unprecedented three years as president of the Orange County Library System Board of trustees, and served as a board member of the American Red Cross, Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Golden Rule Foundation, and Orlando Shakespeare Theater. In Virginia, he served as a member of the Virginia State University (VSU) Board Foundation Board, the VSU Research Foundation Board and the VSU National Alumni Association Board.

A media-savvy professional, Tyson has been interviewed as a subject matter expert for numerous print and broadcast media and has executive produced numerous multi-hour entertainment specials throughout the state of Florida. He is also a published author, having written an article for the Harris Headliner, titled “Three Keys to Alumni Involvement” and authored the chapter titled “Diversity in Philanthropy: A New Paradigm,” which was published in the Book titled: “Building Strong Nonprofits” pubished by J Wiley and Sons. He also created, executive produced and hosted a talk show (Keepers of the Spirit) at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff which received critical acclaim and whose guests included Cornel West, Bernice King, MC Lyte, Nikki Giovanni, Marc Lamont Hill, Hill Harper, Kesha Knight Pulliam, Nathan McCall and Lynn Whitfield.

While serving as community relations manager with Southern Bell, he wrote and produced two editions of the “Calendar of Atlanta Black History featuring Black Musicians of Georgia and the Living Legends of Negro Baseball. The latter served as the first nationwide reunion of the former Negro League players. A graduate of Morehouse College, Tyson also studied at Old Dominion University, Dartmouth College and completed an executive education certificate program at the Harvard Business School.