Someone You Should Know

Jim McMillan, Chief Financial Officer

Equip for Equality Chief Financial Officer Jim McMillan feels that his position involves more than just cutting checks.

"In my opinion," he says, "the bottom line is people, and good stewardship of fiscal resources is what allows you to serve more people." Jim brings with him a wealth of knowledge from his previous 11 years of success in guiding nonprofit organizations.

Growing up in Chicago, Jim attended one of Chicago's many Catholic schools. "When I started school, my teachers stressed to me the importance of faith and the importance of serving others." He went on to receive his bachelor's degree from Loyola University in Chicago and is nearing completion of his MBA at St. Xavier University.

After three years of working in the corporate world in public accounting and corporate taxation, Jim opted for a job with the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR), an organization founded to promote inter-religious dialogue. The mission of the council is to cultivate harmony between the world's religious and spiritual communities and to foster their engagement with the world and its other guiding institutions in order to achieve a peaceful, just and sustainable world.

He was satisfied by his career shift and felt instantly at home with the CPWR and its gratifying mission. Jim finds it striking to observe the relevance of that organization now, eight years later, when religious intolerance is at the forefront of our world concern. It was through his experience at CPWR that Jim was able to communicate with such notable figures as Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama.

His experience moved him to dedicate the coming years to nonprofit work. After working in university research and briefly as a consultant, Jim took a position at Sarah's Inn, a social service organization for victims of domestic violence. He spent the next five years working for institutions with a similar mission.

As the fiscal director at Sarah's Inn for more than two years, Jim was instrumental in ensuring that the organization's financial position sustained its mission and activities, which included helping to oversee the development of additional space that became a center for families escaping life-threatening situations.

"My office was in a transitional housing center, and I was directly across the hall from the families we were providing services for." Jim was acutely aware of the struggles of domestic violence victims, and through this awareness effectively guided the organization fiscally and administratively. It was this level of involvement that led Sarah's Inn to choose Jim to serve briefly as interim executive director.

Because Jim was drawn to organizations in dire need of assistance, it was not long before he became the director of finance at Rainbow House, a social service agency dedicated to victims of domestic violence. He spent the first 18 months developing systems and "cleaning up house." He often acted as a leader in fundraising when necessary, assisting in the hunting for new sources of funding to support new program initiatives. On the frontline, he often took on roles in various departments when necessary, always willing to jump in and help out whenever other departments were in need. It was this type of dedication that made him such an attractive candidate to serve as the new chief financial officer at Equip for Equality.

Jim accepted the offer to become the chief financial officer of Equip for Equality in September 2003. While working with legal professionals would be a change of pace, Jim brought with him a great deal of experience working with social workers and advocates and felt prepared to take on a leadership position at Equip for Equality.

Jim looks forward to learning all he can about the programs and services offered at Equip for Equality and firmly supports its mission. He notes that "it is important to see things from a customer service aspect, what people are saying they need, and then to determine how fiscally I can say yes as much as possible." He recognizes that change doesn't come overnight, and with this understanding combined with a good sense of fiscal management, he hopes to make the best decisions possible for the agency. Jim feels that his job is ultimately to help implement the shared vision of the chief executive officer and the staff. We at Equip for Equality are excited by Jim's commitment and look forward to all that he will bring to the organization in the coming years.

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