Jimmy Echols, Board Member , Unite KC
Jimmy Echols
Board
President, Renaissance Management
James Echols retired from the Kansas Department for Children and Families on June 30, 2017, after a distinguished career serving as Manager of Provider Services, Program Director of HOPE Mentoring, and Assistant Director of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The following day, he became the Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Management and Training Solutions, LLP, a public relations firm specializing in business and human relations staff development, consulting, and training. The firm operates in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma and is based in Kansas City, KS.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Echols completed high school in Spokane, Washington, before dedicating nearly 25 years to military service in the U.S. Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve. As a teenager, he served in Vietnam, where he was promoted to Sergeant and awarded the Bronze Star.
Throughout his professional career, Echols has held various leadership roles, including serving as aide to a former Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor and Governor, Oklahoma State Equal Opportunity Officer, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission, and Administrator of Human Resource Development for Oklahoma City Public Schools.
Echols’ community involvement has been extensive. He is the Immediate-Past Chair of the Kansas Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Immediate-Past President of the Economic Opportunity Foundation, Inc. in Kansas City, KS, a Volunteer Mentor with Mentoring 4 Success through the Kansas Department of Corrections, a Member of the Kansas Sentencing Commission, and a Member of the REACH Healthcare Foundation Community Advisory Committee.
Currently, Echols serves as Chair of the Wyandotte County Boys and Girls Club, First Vice-Chair of the Wyandotte County Unified Government Advisory Commission on Human Relations and Disability Issues, Board Member of the Historic Northeast-Midtown Association, Executive Director of Reaching Out From Within, Inc., Chair of the Workforce Development Committee for the Kansas City Kansas Community College Downtown Advisory Council, President of Future Leaders Outreach Network (FLON), and a Member of the Council of Advocates at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, GA.
Echols earned a Bachelor of Arts in Public Service from the University of Central Oklahoma and pursued graduate studies in Human Relations and Organizational Development at the University of Oklahoma.
James and his wife, Muriel, reside in Kansas City, Kansas. They have two adult children and two teenage granddaughters. He is the proud son and grandson of Baptist ministers.
