Jim Luce
Encyclopedia
This was written by Jim Luce
Jim Luce, baptized James Jay Dudley Luce and born 1959 in Hamilton, OhioHamilton, Ohio
Hamilton is a city in Butler County, southwestern Ohio, United States. The population was 62,447 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Butler County. The city is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area....
, is a former investment banker, as well as activist, organizer, philanthropist, and international development
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
specialist who founded the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
-affiliated Orphans International
Orphans International
Orphans International Worldwide is a charitable organization created to house and educate orphans and abandoned children. In response to the crisis facing orphaned children around the world, former investment bank employee Jim Luce founded Orphans International in 1999...
in 1998 and Orphans International America in 1999. Luce called for ending orphanages globally, to be replaced by his organization's Family Care model, in 2008. He is based on Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island, known as Welfare Island from 1921 to 1973, and before that Blackwell's Island, is a narrow island in the East River of New York City. It lies between the island of Manhattan to its west and the borough of Queens to its east...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Family & Ancestry
Luce’s mother was Frances Dudley Alleman-Luce, a child psychologist and civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
advocate from Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and his father was Stanford Luce
Stanford Luce
Stanford Leonard Luce Jr is well known for his work on Louis-Ferdinand Céline and his English translations of Jules Verne books, especially The Kip Brothers which he was the first to translate into English 105 years after the novel was written.-Biography:Luce was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the...
, Jr. a French professor and translator also from Boston. Stan Luce was also a civil rights advocate, as well as a volunteer supervisor for Habitat for Humanity. Luce is partnered with John Lee, a diamond trader. His teenage adopted son, ethnically Chinese from Manado
Manado
Manado is the capital of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. Manado is located at the Bay of Manado, and is surrounded by a mountainous area. The city has about 405,715 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar...
, Indonesia, is named Mathew James. In 1997, Luce was certified and served as a New York City foster father, hosting three Puerto Rican girls.
Luce comes from a distinguished family that includes Lieutenant Richard Warren
Richard Warren
Richard Warren was a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620. He settled in Plymouth Colony and was among ten passengers of the Mayflower landing party with Myles Standish at Cape Cod on November 11, 1620...
of the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
, Governor Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the town's first home...
, Third Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
and co-founder of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and Rear Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce, founder of the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
at Annapolis. Luce is a thirteenth generation Anglican in North America. Jim Luce is not directly related to Henry Robinson Luce, founder of Time-Life
Time-Life
Time–Life is a creator and direct marketer of books, music, video/DVD, and multimedia products. Its products are sold throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia through television, print, retail, the Internet, telemarketing, and direct sales....
.
Finance & Business
Luce began his career as an Assistant EurobondEurobond
A Eurobond is an international bond that is denominated in a currency not native to the country where it is issued. It can be categorised according to the currency in which it is issued. London is one of the centers of the Eurobond market, but Eurobonds may be traded throughout the world - for...
Portfolio Manager with Daiwa Bank on Wall Street upon his return from studying (Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
) and working in Tokyo in 1983 at the age of 23. He was the first Japanese-speaking American manager hired by the New York branch of Daiwa Bank . Luce assisted with management of bank’s $260 million Euro-bond portfolio and was responsible for daily report in Japanese to home office in Osaka and the New York branch president.
Luce returned to Wall Street in 1998 working with Merrill Lynch in the World Financial Center, leaving just before 9/11. He then served, beginning in 2000, as the right-hand man to a Senior Managing Director and co-founder of a Lazard Frères spin-off known as Rhône Capital in Rockefeller Center.
Activism & Organizing
Luce left Wall Street following an appearance on the Phil Donahue Show in 1985 discussing religious addiction and the need for an "anonymous" organization to help those recovering from religious addiction, including followers of the TV evangelists such as Jerry FalwellJerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
, Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
, and Jimmy Swaggart
Jimmy Swaggart
Jimmy Lee Swaggart is a Pentecostal American pastor, teacher, musician, television host, and televangelist. He has preached to crowds around the world through his weekly telecast...
. Luce co-founded Fundamentalists Anonymous, and with the help of the Henry Luce Foundation, raised $1.2 million from 1985-89 helping build support groups across the U.S. for recovering fundamentalists. He testified in Congress against the TV evangelists in 1988. During this period Luce served as resource/interviewed repeatedly by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Today Show, in addition to CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, A.P. & U.P.I.
Following Fundamentalists Anonymous, Luce was approached to run as a moderate candidate against Republican U.S. Senator Alphonse D'Amato in the 1992 elections, and exploratory papers were filed with the Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
. This campaign became the bi-partisan organization "Dump D'Amato in ’92," which Luce chaired for two years.
International Development
In 1995 Luce traveled to IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
where he met the ten-month old infant who would become his son Mathew, living in squalid conditions in a traditional warehouse-like orphanage. Because of his revulsion at the condition of orphans in the developing world, Luce was influenced by his child psychologist mother to conceptualize an alternative, which he completed by 1999. His mother died shortly thereafter and Luce used proceeds from her estate to found Orphans International Worldwide.
Luce left the financial world for the second time after the 2004 Tsunami. For his work with orphans, Luce was awarded the Certificate of Congressional Recognition through the office of U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel that year. Luce was anointed the "Tsunami Saint" by the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
for his work with orphans in Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
, Indonesia in 2005. He was recognized again by Congress in 2007. He has occasionally faced danger in the field (see: BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
) and has since raised over $1.5 million for orphaned children in Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Luce was a featured speaker at the following:
- United Nations Sixtieth Annual DPI/NGO Conference - Climate Change: How It Impacts Us All,September 5, 2007 Panel entitled "Caring After the Storm: The Impact of Climate Change on Children in Areas Where Rising Waters Create Despair and Destruction."
- The Fourth Annual Youth Assembly at the U.N., August 14, 2007. Plenary and workshop on "Raising Global Citizens - How You Can Help Us In Making A Difference."
- World AIDS Orphans Day Conference at the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sponsored by United Nations Association of Minnesota, May 7, 2005
Philanthropy & Foundation
Luce gave away his Wall Street savings to launch the not-for-profit organization Fundamentalists Anonymous in 1985, went back to Wall Street and then gave away his savings and assets to launch Orphans International beginning in 2001. In 2008 he accepted a position as Managing Director of a multinational corporation and founded the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation. That same year he wrote an essay published by (The Huffington PostThe Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
) entitled, “Will A Vow Of Poverty Fill The Void In My Soul?”.
Writer, Speaker & Personality
Luce was editor of his high school newspaper and a member of the international honorary society Quill and ScrollQuill and Scroll
Quill and Scroll is an international high school journalism honor society that recognizes and encourages both individual and group achievements in scholastic journalism. According to the Quill and Scroll website, over 14,104 high schools in all 50 U.S. states and 44 countries have established local...
. At the College of Wooster he wrote a weekly college for his school paper from his junior year abroad. In New York and Lomé
Lomé
Lomé, with an estimated population of 737,751, is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels...
, Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
, Luce wrote Riding The Tiger: The Story of Orphans International. In 1986, Luce wrote “The Fundamentalists Anonymous Movement” and “Breaking the Chains of Fundamentalism” for the national publication of the American Humanist Association
American Humanist Association
The American Humanist Association is an educational organization in the United States that advances Humanism. "Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that...
. Beginning in 2007 he wrote pieces for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and the Huffington Post. He writes for six other blogs.
He was president of a Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking and leadership skills...
public-speaking chapter in New York City, and has spoken repeatedly at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, to Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
Clubs around the world, and at universities such as Mt. Holyoke, Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. From 1995-90 he appeared on every major network repeatedly, discussing the dangers of religious addiction. He has spoken at Orphans International Worldwide Global Congresses in Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
and Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and at Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and New York Universities
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Luce was identified in the 1980s as a force to be reckoned with by American Society. Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
, the Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
of the 1980s, introduced Luce in May 1985 by stating “Mr. Luce, a former Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
banker… looks like a banker, and I mean that as a compliment.” The New York Observer wrote in October 1991, “Meet Jim Luce... Oh yes, you’re saying, you know the story — a young, rich kid short on beliefs and long on ambition, living in pseudo-poverty while sitting on a trust fund, ready to leap at whatever vehicle will best advance his career... Mr. Luce wears bookish round glasses, chooses his words carefully, and has an impossibly boyish face, qualities that would qualify him for the George Will
George Will
George Frederick Will is an American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner best known for his conservative commentary on politics...
Award as a quintessentially upper-class White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant or WASP is an informal term, often derogatory or disparaging, for a closed group of high-status Americans mostly of British Protestant ancestry. The group supposedly wields disproportionate financial and social power. When it appears in writing, it is usually used to...
... He’ll be noticed.”
Global Travel
Luce is a product of his experiences. He has extensive international exposure, including trips to the following for work, study, leisure or humanitarian assistance: Accra, Amsterdam, Anchorage, Aomori, Atlanta, Austin, Bali, Banda Aceh, Bangkok, Berlin, Bielefeld, Bogotá, Boston, Brussels, Bucharest, Charlotte, Chiba, Chicago, Cologne, Colombo, Copenhagen, Denpasar, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Galle, Geneva, Georgetown (Guyana), Giradot, Gonaives, Hamburg, Hannover, Hiroshima, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Ístanbul, Jacmel, Jakarta, Kansas City, Kuala Lumpur, Lima, Lomé, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Mfrso, Manado, Manila, Miami, Mexico City, Medan, Miyazaki, Montréal, Morioka, Moscow, Munich, Münster, Nakhodka, Osaka, Paris, Phoenix, Ponce, Port-au-Prince, Raleigh, Rome, Rotterdam, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, San Salvador, Santiago, Santo Domingo, Sendai, Seoul, Singapore, St. Louis, Tijuana, Tokyo, Toronto, Vancouver, Vienna, Warsaw, Washington, Yokohama, and Zürich.Additional Citations
New York Times article:Huffington Post:
Daily Kos:
Toastmaster:
The Jim Luce Stewardship Report:
Congressional Record: Jim's Congressional Award in recognition of Orphans International and Its Founder by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney: