James R. Whitehead has been the leader and CEO of multiple global and U.S. organizations, with a driving force to enlarge and amplify their ability to benefit humanity overall in a sustainable fashion – especially human, societal, and planetary health. 

Based in Indianapolis, IN, Jim currently is CEO of an expanding portfolio of health-based NGOs, including and with exceptional pride the International Society for Sports Psychiatry, as well as an incubator for organizations that innovatively use technology to advance health and performance and economic development in the sectors of worksite, healthcare, and sports.  

Jim previously served in the public sector in Washington, DC as Director of an HHS national health institute.  Before that, he was the historically successful and long-term CEO of the American College of Sports Medicine, headquartered in Indianapolis, helping to make it the world’s largest international organization dedicated to the broad and multi-faceted field of sports medicine and exercise science.  

Earlier, Jim was an executive with the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery in Washington, DC, and was a principal with an association management firm that specialized in health and science NGOs and political candidates at the U.S. federal level. 

Jim is a graduate of the University of Alabama, where he earned degrees in organizational development and medical history and policy.