Jim Gibbons is President and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, a network of independent, community-based agencies in the United States, Canada and 14 other countries.  Founded in Boston in 1902, Goodwill Industries first put people to work by hiring them to repair and sell donated goods. Today, Goodwill trains people for careers in fields such as financial services, computer programming and health care. The organization does that by selling donated goods in retail stores and online at shopgoodwill.com and using the proceeds to fund job training and other support programs that benefit hundreds of thousands of people each year.  Goodwill also builds revenue and creates jobs by working with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services such as janitorial work, packaging and assembly, food service preparation, and document imaging and shredding.  The organization earns 98 percent of its revenues through its various business lines, and channels 83 percent of its revenues directly into its services. 

Before coming to Goodwill in April 2008, Gibbons served as president and CEO of National Industries for the Blind (NIB), a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with more than 88 associated agencies around the country to enhance economic opportunities and professional development for people who are blind.  Through comprehensive marketing and branding strategies and an emphasis on aggressive mission measures, Gibbons transformed the nearly 70 year-old NIB into a results-oriented social enterprise for the 21^st century. 

An expert at social enterprise management, socioeconomic program strategy and leadership skills development, Gibbons is a veteran speaker, guest lecturer and information resource for educators, advocates and journalists.  He has been featured in more than 100 national and regional media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, CNN and ABC News.

Prior to NIB, Gibbons was president and CEO of Campus Wide Access Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.  An employee of AT&T for over a decade, Gibbons held leadership positions in operations, product management, and mergers and acquisition.

Gibbons earned his bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University, and attended the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where he was the first blind person to graduate with a master’s in business administration. He has served on the Harvard Business School Alumni Association Board of Directors and Executive Committee; as a board member of the National Association for the Employment of People Who Are Blind (NAEPB); President of the World Blind Union (WBU) North American/Caribbean Region; member of the Executive Committee, WBU; Chairman of the Employment Committee, WBU; and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).

Gibbons grew up in Indianapolis, IN, and now lives in Fairfax Station, VA, with his wife and three children. 

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