James Miles

James Miles worked as an educator in the New York City public schools for almost 20 years prior to moving to Seattle in 2016. An Assistant Professor at Seattle University, James is also the Executive Director of Third Stone, the non profit that operates the beloved Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival in Seattle. In addition to running the day to day operations, fundraising, and administrative duties, James will also be launching the Bumbershoot Workforce Development Program training 17-25 year olds from low income, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQAI+ communities, the technical, creative, and business aspects of concert and event promotion. His acclaimed TedXTalk focuses on his mission is to narrow achievement gaps using the “arts as a tool to navigate the systems of educational inequity.