I have known Jim going on 20 years and worked closely with him for more than nine years. He has extensive financial knowledge supported by outstanding credentials that are uniquely coupled with a strong sense of emotional intelligence. Jim is very organized and communicates honestly about financial and workforce strengths and weaknesses. He is readily able to evaluate the finances of a business or organization and provide suggestions that will vastly improve the financial health. There is no issue too small or too large that Jim will not address. Whether it is financial issues such as implementing stronger internal controls, training staff in new methods and practices, making better vendor choices, or analyzing and implementing a plan to bring legacy costs under control, Jim has the skills to take on any financial issues and bring about positive change.

Following the retirement of a longtime treasurer at the Kettering Foundation, we needed someone to take up the work while conducting a nationwide search to fill this critical position. Jim Martin came to us highly recommended, and he has become a valued colleague at Kettering. He is someone who has deep knowledge and experience with nonprofit finance and accounting as well as curiosity and genuine interest in the mission of the foundation. Jim has been consistently responsive, kind, and very easy to work with. He exercises a gentle style of leadership through personal example. Even though Jim started working with the foundation as the offices were moving to remote work in March 2020, he was able to direct the financial operations more-or-less seamlessly, including working with the external auditor team during COVID-19. Jim’s understanding of defined contribution plans also led the foundation to name him as the interim chair of a defined benefits committee, in which he has worked with staff and external consultants on ongoing reviews of the plan. Given his finance experience and the relationships that he developed at the foundation, we also asked Jim to participate in the review of candidates for the CFO position and then to work with the new CFO as he was onboarding. We are thankful to Jim for all that he has done at the foundation during this time of leadership change in the finance and accounting group. Like the colleague who recommended Jim to me, I would recommend him to others highly and without any reservations.