Jim Smith
Jim’s connection with Eagle’s Nest Foundation began when his daughter attended the Outdoor Academy in 10th grade. Now in her early 20’s, she still looks back on this experience as one which originated her love of the outdoors and where she began developing her leadership skills. She remains active with her OA classmates and connected to ENF by attending Trustee weekends with Jim.
Jim grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and attended Lehigh University where he earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Later in his career he earned an M.B.A. from Illinois Benedictine University, specializing in Operations Management.
In his 30-plus year career, he has held senior leadership positions in Engineering, Research and Operations across three industries. Since 2001 he has been a partner in Simpler Consulting, LP, one of the world’s largest Lean-focused consulting firms specializing in teaching the Toyota Business System to clients across all industry sectors.
Since joining the ENF Board of Trustees in 2008, Jim has split his time between Simpler Consulting, LP, Eagle’s Nest Foundation, and semi-retirement. He and his wife Kay are ardent supporters of the Foundation, establishing an endowed scholarship in their daughter Caitlin’s name. In addition, they support the Arts in North Carolina, where Kay sirs on the Board of Directors of the Greenhill Center of NC Art. Jim’s leisure interests include hiking, waterskiing, woodworking and international travel.
