Jim Luce (www.jimluce.com) writes and speaks on Thought Leaders and Global Citizens.

Bringing 26 years management experience within both investment banking and the non-profit sector, Jim has worked for Daiwa Bank, Merrill Lynch, a spin-off of Lazard Freres, and two not-for profit organizations and a foundation he founded.

As Founder & CEO of Orphans International Worldwide (www.oiww.org), he is working with a strong network of committed professionals to build interfaith, interracial, Internet-connected orphanages in Haiti and Indonesia, and creating a new, family-care model for orphans in Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

Jim founded the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation (www.lucefoundation.org) to fund leadership dedicated to ending orphanages in the developing world through creative means including the development of foster/family care programs.

He speaks often before college audiences and at the United Nations. He has been honored twice by the U.S. Congress.

Jim holds an East Asian Studies degree from the College of Wooster, and studied at Waseda University, Tokyo, Centro de Estudiar Colombino-Americano (Bogotá), and through AFS at Max-Plank Gymnasium (Bielefeld, Germany).

Blog Entries by Jim Luce

Sweden's Queen on "Fire Souls" -- Leaders in Child Protection

Posted November 7, 2009 | 09:32 AM (EST)


Ten years ago, Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden reached the point where she could no longer witness the appalling conditions of children around the world – especially child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.

She took action and founded the World Childhood Foundation, known often as simply...

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U.N. Birthday Rocks for Its Peacemakers

1 Comments | Posted November 6, 2009 | 12:41 PM (EST)


Flashbulbs popping non-stop, H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations in New York, entered the U.N. General Assembly Hall in New York City.  He has attained the status of a rock star.

Speaking at the U.N. Day Concert 2009: A Tribute to Peacekeeping in the...

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Patriarch of Maloney Clan, Clif Maloney, Passes On

Posted October 27, 2009 | 01:30 PM (EST)


I first met Clifton H.W. Maloney two years ago when the organization I founded, Orphans International, honored his wife, U.S. Congress member Carolyn B. Maloney, at a dinner on New York’s Upper East Side.

Clif and daughter Virginia came with Carolyn, and we all sat together at the...

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Mario Vargas Llosa on the End of the Incan Empire at the Americas Society

Posted October 27, 2009 | 10:34 AM (EST)


Four hundred years ago an Inca princess bore the son of a Spanish Conquistador.  Their child, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, grew up to write the first Spanish-American masterpiece, The Royal Commentaries (Comentarios reales).

Last week, with a panel of preeminent scholars and the great Peruvian writer 

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The Rubins on "What is Cuban Art?"

Posted October 26, 2009 | 10:45 AM (EST)


Donald and Shelley Rubin are Tibetan art in New York City.  This point is difficult to argue with.  They founded the Rubin Museum of Art (RMA), which opened its doors in October 2004 and is now recognized as the premier museum of Himalayan art in the West.

What is less...

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Young Korean-American Hahn-Bin Wows Carnegie Hall In Debut Performance

3 Comments | Posted October 15, 2009 | 11:27 AM (EST)


There are few male Asian-American sex symbols.  Violin prodigy Hahn-Bin, studying under Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho, is one of the few.

Opening the 49th Young Concert Artist Series in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Susan Wadsworth, Hahn-Bin’s New York debut last week mesmerized...

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U.N. Ambassador Kohona: Sri Lanka Refugee Situation Improving

Posted October 13, 2009 | 09:55 PM (EST)


Fourteen years after the civil war in Rwanda, refugees are still living in mud huts.  In Bosnia, following Balkanization, people lacked heat and electricity for years.

On the Afghani-Pakistani border, millions today are living in squalor.

In all of these refugee populations, disease was...

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New Jersey 20-Year-Old Builds Orphanage in Nepal

1 Comments | Posted October 6, 2009 | 04:59 PM (EST)


Maggie Doyne is your typical girl from New Jersey.  She happens to live in Nepal caring for 27 orphans - in an orphanage she built herself.

I met with her recently to hear about her incredible journey. 

I was introduced to her by Tony award winning producer Brian Swibel.  Maggie was in...

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From the Grand Bazaar to New York's Grand Central

Posted September 30, 2009 | 09:23 PM (EST)


The biggest Turkish Festival in the history of the U.S. -- "Turkish Days in New York" -- is now upon us.

It is bringing the Grand Bazaar on the beautiful banks of the Bosporus to our own Grand Central – and out to the streets of our city.

...
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Reflecting on the Gates Arrest

Posted September 23, 2009 | 11:32 AM (EST)


By Jim Luce and David Gilfix

The fury over the Gates arrest was never really about Gates’ arrest. 

People who continue to debate the veracity of charges of racism in that particular incident fail to recognize that the anger unveiled could not have arisen from a...

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Pro Mujer: Journey Towards Women's Empowerment In Latin America

Posted September 22, 2009 | 11:36 AM (EST)


Twenty years ago, a friendship between two women of different cultures and backgrounds cemented, and a bond was formed to create a women's development organization -- to empower women -- throughout Latin America.

Lynne Patterson, an American school teacher, and Carmen Velasco, a Bolivian professor in psychology, wanted to use...

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Asia Society's Prez on Global Citizens Like Obama

Posted September 19, 2009 | 09:56 AM (EST)


“As Americans, we have the unfortunate idea that we should and need to learn more about the world, but it’s not a priority. 

“We get to it when we can, which is seldom,” said Dr. Vishakha Desai, president of the Asia Society. 

So began an interview with a brilliant woman...

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New York's GreenSoul Shoes Tours Southeast Asia

Posted September 17, 2009 | 10:32 AM (EST)


Alastair Onglingswan, Iris Chau and Stephen Chen, co-founded GreenSoul Shoes (GSS), a social enterprise where their mission is to shoe underprivileged children around the world in a sustainable fashion.

They do this by working with local third-world artisans to produce a 100% up-cycled sandal (that is a sandal...

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Saving Small Businesses, The Brooklyn Way

Posted August 23, 2009 | 02:09 PM (EST)


Bob Zuckerman does not want to wait for the economic stimulus package to drip down to Brooklyn's quickly emptying storefronts. He wants to lead the developed world in making New York City home to "retail condos."

Like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., Bob believes New York City...

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Helping Women: Eliminating Obstetric Fistula in Developing World

3 Comments | Posted July 28, 2009 | 11:32 AM (EST)


Ana Langer, M.D., spoke recently at a Smith Barney seminar on health in the developing world. She was talking about the problem of obstetric fistula, of which I was ignorant.

Obstetric fistula is a devastating medical condition in which a fistula (hole) develops between the vagina and either the rectum...

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Indian-American Med Student on Malaria and Poverty in Nigeria

Posted July 28, 2009 | 11:06 AM (EST)


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Two Nigerian girls waiting for their malaria test results.

There were so many burned patients I even had to help cut off patients clothes, try to secure IV lines, and help patch burns all while trying to stomach the constant screams and distinct...
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Interview with the Red Cross Secretary General in Geneva

Posted July 21, 2009 | 12:32 PM (EST)


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Having witnessed the incredible work of the Red Cross in Aceh, Indonesia following the Tsunami of 2004 -- and seeing for the first time Red Crescents in action -- I have always dreamed to meet those responsible for coordinating the largest...

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Hyper-Local Papers in NYC See the Light

Posted July 14, 2009 | 02:00 PM (EST)


Newspapers are in trouble across the U.S., facing a triple thumping: Fixed costs, a sour economy, and killer competition for the advertising dollar.

Throw in competition for audience and add the weight of debt service, and local print media have a hundred ways to hurt and even more reasons to...

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Remembering My Battle Against Fundamentalists

4 Comments | Posted July 6, 2009 | 07:51 AM (EST)


I left Wall Street unexpectedly following an appearance on the Phil Donahue Show in 1985. There, on the Oprah Winfrey Show of its day, Richard Yao and I discussed "religious addiction" - the first time that phrase had ever been mentioned on national television.

I explained to Phil the need...

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Sundance Film Afghan Star Incredible

Posted July 2, 2009 | 12:18 PM (EST)


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Thirty years ago people could sing and dance in Afghanistan. Then the Taliban took control, instituted Sharia law and, as described in the film The Kite Runner, changed Afghani life, culture, and personal freedoms for an entire generation.

I have had the...

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