Professional & Public Service

James Jennings has been involved in public service and worked with many foundations, including, The Ford Foundation, The Boston Foundation, The United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the Puerto Rico Foundation, and others. He served as a member of the Committee on Increasing Minority Participation in Health Professions for the Institute of Medicine; member of the Political Participation Panel for the Commission on the Status of Black Americans, National Academy of Science; National Scholar for Public Influences of African-American Churches for Pew Charitable Trusts; National Advisor to the Scholar/Practitioner Program for the Kellogg Foundation's Devolution Initiative; member of the Advisory Committee for Research and Public Policy for the National Puerto Rican Coalition; and other national organizations.

Other professional contributions include committee memberships and panel presentations for the American Political Science Association, National Conference of Black Political Scientists, and the Urban Affairs Association.

He has written numerous guest columns for The Boston Globe; The Boston Herald; In These Times; City Issues; Black Commentator Online; Massachusetts Human Services Provider; Latin New York; Equal Times; Bay State Banner; and Roxbury Community News. He has provided research assistance to several film projects, including, "War on Poverty" film series for PBS and Blackside Productions, Inc.; the National Black Programming Consortium and PBS film, "Blacks Facing the Millenium"; and others.

James Jennings has extensive experience working with many neighborhood organizations. He has served as a board member of the Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center, the United South End Settlement House, the City Mission Society, the Civil Rights Project, the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, the NAACP-Boston Branch, the Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation, The Hyams Foundation, and other community and governmental bodies.