Net Impact is saddened to announce that Jim Schorr, a Net Impact founder and former Board Chair, passed away on February 11, 2019.

Jim was a transformational leader in the social impact field. As an MBA student at Northwestern University, he joined other MBAs and members of the Social Venture Network to found Net Impact. Later, he served as a director and board chair for ten years, and the organization grew to inspire tens of thousands of students and young professionals across the globe.

Throughout his career, Jim was a leading expert in social entrepreneurship, including as CEO of San Francisco-based Juma Ventures, which creates job opportunities for disadvantaged youth, as well as CEO and Chair of the Social Enterprise Alliance in Nashville, TN. Teaching at UC Berkeley, Jim found his true passion—helping to ensure the next generation experiences, learns, and ventures into social enterprise.

In 2009, he moved to Nashville to start the social entrepreneurship program at Vanderbilt University where he was a professor at the Owen Graduate School of Management and Peabody School of Education. At both Berkeley and Vanderbilt, Jim taught hundreds of students and helped to shape their future careers and our future world.

Those in the Net Impact community members who knew Jim recollect his kindness, generosity, sense of humor, and sharp mind. For those who never got a chance to meet him, he embodied the very best of Net Impact. Jim has made an indelible impact on the lives of many.

A memorial for Jim will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 11 am at Benton Chapel at Vanderbilt University, with a reception to follow at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management. Contributions the student funds created in his memory for young social entrepreneurs to continue his work can be found at JimSchorrMemorial.com.