Jenny James has worked in a variety of capacities at Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA) since 2008. Through this work she has designed and implemented innovative programming and community partnerships to meet the ever changing needs of children and families that to date has brought over 5 million dollars of grant funding from the United States Department of Education. Over the years, she has presented on arts-integration, literacy, STEM, family and community engagement, and early childhood education at several national and local conferences. Her guiding principal as a leader is that ALL young people deserve access to a well-rounded, arts rich education and she is committed to weaving diversity, equity, inclusion, and access into the DNA of YALA.

Jenny successfully completed the IEL’s Education Policy Fellowship Program and the Bryan Bell Metropolitan Leadership Forum. She is the founding Vice President of Little League of New Orleans, and serves on the fundraising committee for Friends of the New Orleans Public Library.