James W. Wert, Jr.

Managing Director, Wert & Associates

Jim Wert is the managing partner of Wert and Associates, a consultancy focused on building strategic clarity and organizational health for a wide array of corporate and nonprofit clients.  He works closely with client leadership teams and governance boards through projects that range from strategic planning, to organization design and capacity building, to leadership development.  Jim’s corporate clients have spanned start-up ventures to Fortune 500 businesses, and have included financial services, real estate management, entertainment, distribution and logistics, agribusiness and manufacturing enterprises. Jim has also served over one hundred nonprofit clients, ranging from single-site agencies to national and international networks.  These agencies’ missions have included education, community renewal, leadership development, church planting, advocacy, relief efforts, Scripture translation/distribution, healthcare, microeconomic initiatives and philanthropy.

Jim has more than 20 years of experience as a strategic consultant, initially as a Senior Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, and from 2000 – 2013 leading the strategy practice at Triaxia Partners, an Atlanta-based firm that specializes in organizational and team development.   With both firms, he has worked extensively on client engagements across North America, Europe and Asia.

Between his consulting tenures with McKinsey and Triaxia, Jim spent seven years in national and multinational corporate environments.  He served as the Chief Financial Officer at National Service Industries’ Atlantic Envelope Division, directing strategic planning, performance management, sourcing and merger and acquisitions efforts.  Prior to NSI, Jim served as the Vice President of Marketing for Mead Coated Board, where he led market assessment, customer service, logistics and product development teams.  Both corporate roles involved accountability for significant strategic repositioning of these businesses, as well as focused efforts to improve operating performance.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of North Carolina, with majors in political science and German, Jim earned his MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar.

Jim and his family have been Atlantans since 1980, making them practically natives. He is an elder and active leader in the Presbyterian Church in America, and a past moderator of the Metro Atlanta Presbytery.  He has also served on several nonprofit boards ranging from education to the arts to international student ministries.