James Cole Jr. is a financier, government official, attorney, mentor, and advocate. He currently serves on the board of directors of American International Group Inc. where he is chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee and sits on the risk and capital committee. Cole also serves on the board of directors of Suited Inc., a private company that provides artificial intelligence solutions to professional services firms.

Cole founded and is the chair and CEO of The Jasco Group, a multidimensional investment management firm based in New York City. The Jasco Group invests in, or manages, stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds, commodities, entertainment industry assets, real estate, and small businesses.

He previously served at the US Department of Education as delegated deputy secretary of education and general counsel from January 2016 to January 2017, general counsel (a US Senate confirmed seat) from December 2014 to January 2017, and senior advisor to the secretary from August 2014 to December 2014. As deputy secretary, Cole served as the chief operating officer of the Department of Education and oversaw a broad range of operational, management, policy, legal, and program functions Cole also oversaw the department’s work on President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Task Force, which sought to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color.

From November 2011 to August 2014, Cole served as deputy general counsel of the US Department of Transportation. Prior to joining the Department of Transportation, Cole was a corporate law partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, with a primary focus on mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. Cole began his career as a financial analyst at GE Capital Corp.

Cole has a longstanding commitment to educational achievement, access, and opportunity for all students. He is the founder and president of Jasco Philanthropies, which promotes, empowers, and educates Black and Brown people, including members of the LGBTQ+ community. Cole currently serves on the national board of directors of Jumpstart, which provides language, literacy, and socio-emotional programming for preschool children from under-resourced communities; the advisory board of the National Student Legal Defense Network, which, through litigation and advocacy, works to advance students’ rights to educational opportunity and to ensure that higher education provides a launching point for economic mobility; the board of directors of Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow, which provides accessible business education for at-promise Black and Brown youth; and the advisory board of Fontanelle Academy of Early Learning, which provides high-quality infant childcare and early childhood education services to families.

From 2004 through 2011, Cole served on the board of directors of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. From 2005 through 2011, he served on the board of trustees of Prep for Prep, a youth leadership development program that identifies and prepares students of color for the rigors of independent day and boarding schools.

Cole received his juris doctor from the University of Chicago and his bachelor of science in finance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.