James (Jim) McKelvey

2027 Financial Innovation Award

If you haven't heard of Jim McKelvey, that’s intentional. He has no social media, avoids politics and often dresses plainly. After becoming recognizable in his hometown of St. Louis, Jim moved to New York for anonymity; this enables him to work on a wide range of seemingly unrelated projects.

Art: Jim is a professional glassblower and designer with designs in both MoMA and the Smithsonian. His studio in St. Louis is considered a model for public access glass art centers.

Medicine: Jim leads FasTrials, which aims to increase the number of lifesaving drugs by radically lowering FDA trial costs.  He is midway through a trial to deliver needle-free epinephrine for 20% of current costs.

Finance: Jim co-founded Square (now Block, Inc.) with Jack Dorsey in 2009 and is currently a General Partner at FINTOP Capital. Jim is a former Chair of the St. Louis Federal Reserve.

Entrepreneurship: Jim's new startup (2025) builds software for workforce management. He has also been working for the last seven years to create the world’s first plastic-free diaper. Jim serves on the boards of both Emerson Electric and Block.

Education: Jim's non-profit, LaunchCode (2013), has trained thousands of programmers and found them employment. He is a trustee of Washington University and named the school of Engineering after his father and former Dean. Jim authored three textbooks, two on programming and one on Glassblowing, and the book The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time (2020).

Philanthropy: Jim and his wife, Anna, have taken The Giving Pledge and hope to give away all their money.