Raël Nelson James

Raël Nelson James is a partner and Head of Equity at The Bridgespan Group, a global nonprofit that collaborates with philanthropists, nonprofit and NGO leaders, and impact investors to make the world more equitable and just. Since joining the organization in 2016 as Bridgespan’s first-ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) leader, she has led the organization’s commitment to reflect the diversity of its clients and communities in ways that will translate into deeper relationships, engagement, and insights. She is a co-creator of Bridgespan’s Racial Equity Strategy, which continues to shape the way that the organization thinks about its people and culture, operations, and external impact. Raël leads a global team of DEI leaders on three continents and is based in Bridgespan’s D.C. Hub.

Through one of Bridgespan’s cohort programs, titled “Advancing Racial Equity”, Raël has coached other non-profits on how to effectively create DEI strategies for their own organizations. She served on the Advisory Committee for Equity in the Center’s publication, “Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture.” She has also been a featured guest on the PBS NewsHour, most recently in their 2020 segment, “Answering your questions on race in the workplace” about how employers and colleagues can better support employees of color.

Prior to joining Bridgespan, Raël was Director of Recruiting and Diversity at Education Board Partners (EBP)– now part of Bellweather – an organization that ensures children have access to a quality education. The organization partners with school boards to offer candidate recruiting and matching, personalized coaching, strategic tools and resources, and networking and training opportunities to board chairs, school leaders, and board members. At EBP, Raël facilitated nearly 65 local professionals joining charter school boards. She also directed EBP's commitment to diversify charter school boards and to serve as an organizational model for diversity and inclusion in the charter sector. During her tenure, nearly half of the professionals who joined boards through the EBP network were Black and Latine.

Raël was the first-ever executive director of LIFT-DC, where she expanded the organization into the District of Columbia’s bilingual communities, and communities east of the Anacostia River. Raël managed KIPP DC's foundation and corporate relations and served as the program director at Operation Understanding DC, a leadership development and dialogue program for Black and Jewish high school students.

Raël was the founding board chair of the Social Justice School, an EL Education Public charter school in Washington, D.C. She is a native Washingtonian and Tufts University alumna.