Magazine
Beyond the call of duty
By Beyond the call of duty
Mar 4, 2010 - 2:59 PM

One of the defining moments of Juanita James’ life came last fall. “Here I was, 25 feet up a ladder, hanging upside down wrapping insulation – and I’m afraid of heights!”

James was in New Orleans with her church, First Presbyterian of Stamford, rebuilding homes ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. “I wasn’t sure I was physically up to it, with all the labor involved, and yes, the ladders, but it’s surprising how you can overcome your personal fears,” she says, face glowing.

It’s not the only height James has scaled. In January the Pitney Bowes chief marketing and communications officer was named 2009 Citizen of the Year, an award presented to James for all the work she has done locally and nationally to make the world a better place.

Wife, mother, corporate executive, who also happens to like helping people, James loves her chock-full life.

Now, seated in her well-ordered corporate office, with its views of Long Island Sound – a lifetime away from the 86-degree, 90-percent humidity, dirt-sprinkled hair, sweat-soaked tee shirts and broken nails of the trip – James says she will never forget it.

“It showed me a side of me I didn’t know I was capable of,” she says.

“One of the things that amazes me most about Juanita is the pure amount of stuff that she gets done, but also that it’s done with quality at the same time, not just filling up hours of volunteer work,” says Dr. David Van Dyke, minister of First Presbyterian Church, who accompanied James on the trip to New Orleans.

“To think that a person as busy as she is would carve out a week of her vacation time to give it to the people of New Orleans is beyond amazing. And to be willing to put in hard physical labor – and it was a hot week that week – doing things she’d never done before, not to mention overcoming something like being afraid of heights and being up on ladders. Amazing!”

James was named Citizen of the Year because, in addition to her round-the-clock job, church work and family responsibilities, she is either on, or has been on, the board of almost every nonprofit in Stamford.

“What’s so powerful about Juanita is that she brings great optimism to challenges,” says Melissa H. Mulrooney, executive director of the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, where James is president of the board. “She has a strategic view of the world. And she’s just a joy to have around. She’s so welcoming and warm-hearted.” James helped bring Mulrooney to Stamford.

Says Barbara Garvin-Kester, “I don’t believe there’s another person in Stamford who’s more deserving.” The chief executive officer of Childcare Learning Centers has shared a long and productive relationship with James. James has served as president of the board and is now on CLC’s leadership council. Childcare Learning Centers serve over 1,000 children in Stamford, providing pre-school and day care services.

“She gives to so many charitable organizations and this is a woman who is so busy, has such a big job, but always makes time for those of us helping the community. From day one she mentored and coached me on a personal level, so I know firsthand how incredible she is. One of the key things she does, and does so well, is to take the heads of community groups in Stamford and connect them to the right people who can help them. She knows everyone.”

Another strength, says Garvin-Kester, is that James really supports the work these organizations do. “She is forever talking about the good work we do here at CLC and what a difference it makes for the community. Every opportunity she has, she tries to convince others to support our work as well. She would do anything for you, no matter what you ask of her, and if she can’t personally do it, she will find someone to do it for you.”

“She’s very deserving,” says Sandra Goldstein, president of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District. “Juanita has been such an active, engaged force in the Stamford community in the dozen years I’ve known her. When she gets involved, her heart is there. She’s someone who cares and she’s fun, too. Another thing that should be in the equation is her intelligence. She’s incredibly bright and her insights are so shrewd and on-the-mark. The woman is sharp and that’s why it’s a pleasure to work with her.” Goldstein pauses. “I love her. She’s a doll.”

James has helped almost every nonprofit in Stamford but what really sings in her heart is the work – any work – she does with kids, through both her volunteer work and her actual job. She’s been a long-time supporter of the Childcare Learning Centers in Stamford, Reading is Fundamental and one of her favorites, “Fast Break to Reading,” which she co-created with the head of the Women’s National Basketball Association to motivate kids to read during the summer, using WNBA teammates.

“We got over 1,000 kids in 10 cities to read during the summer — more than one million minutes of reading,” James says in disbelief of the program co-sponsored by Pitney Bowes. “And actually, it was my son’s idea. We took him to WNBA games when he was a child and he loved that we could sit right on the floor, and that it was family. I thought it was cool – I had a boy engaged with the WNBA! From there, the idea grew.”

Her son, Dudley III, was born four months premature, and was in and out of intensive care his first year of life. “We didn’t know if he would live,” she says, going quiet for a moment. Today, Dudley is a sophomore in college. “We call him our ‘miracle’ baby.” She beams.

But James doesn’t just help the young. She’s board president of the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, is an ordained deacon and elder at her church, and a member of the Leadership Council for the Childcare Learning Centers of Stamford. She’s won many awards for her community service. The Citizen of the Year plaque will fight for space on the wall of her office.

Where does this spirit of giving come from? “I love people,” says James. But she credits her husband, Dudley Williams, with getting her started in Stamford. “When we first moved here, we were commuting to New York for our jobs. My husband got involved the day we got here.”

The second year they were living in Stamford, Dudley started attending Board of Ed meetings as an interested parent. Several years later? He was elected board president. “He was my role model,” James says.

Mayor Mike Pavia met James during the campaign season when James’ husband, Dudley, was running for Board of Finance. “We struck up a conversation, and when I spoke to her, I sensed the depth of her commitment,” he says. “I’d heard her name mentioned through Stamford in a glowing manner and now I know why.”

James actually began volunteering in college when she was at Princeton, which has a strong history of community service. “I tutored a second grader in reading and math at Community House all through my college years and today, she’s now married and a college grad. I loved it then. I got the bug.”

James says she’s been fortunate to work at companies that believe in community service. “It was a major factor in my going to work for Pitney Bowes,” she says.

But the true inspiration for her generous, giving nature goes back almost to her birth. “My mother was the second of nine children in British Guyana. Her dad died when she was 13 and she supported the whole family. She could sew. My mother came to this country and she sponsored her sisters and brothers to come here. She was the spirit of giving in the family,” says James.

“She took care of everyone, her siblings, their children, our cousins. I’m an only child, but not really.” James smiles. “I always had cousins and aunts and uncles around. Giving is a tradition with us.”

Though James admits she spends 50% of her time at work, and 25% of her time on boards and board business, she does have that other 25 percent. And that’s when she has fun. “Dancing with the Stars, that was amazing,” she says of her participation in Curtain Call’s new event, held last year at the Palace Theater. Dancers are paired with professionals, and they, well, dance! “I absolutely loved it,” she says.

As for her husband, there’s time for him, too. She may have to wait till after midnight but that’s when they finally relax together, in front of the David Letterman show.

How does she do it all? “I don’t sleep,” she says, but as though she’s not quite sure it’s a joke. “I get by on about six hours of sleep. I used to get by on four. And, of course, I don’t do it all at the same time!”

James admits that sometimes, she does feel overwhelmed. “That’s when I take a step back. Once I feel I’m missing too many board meetings, or losing thinking time, if I can’t participate fully, then I resign.”

Regretfully, she had to step off the Stamford Symphony Board this year. “It was all just too much,” she says. “When work gets too intense, as it has lately, then I have to make priorities.”

“But I’m never giving up on giving.”

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Juanita T. James Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Pitney Bowes, Stamford (biography courtesy of Pitney Bowes) Juanita T. James is currently Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Pitney Bowes Inc. responsible for corporate marketing, brand management, media and analyst relations, employee and executive communications, and corporate citizenship and philanthropy. Prior to this role, Juanita held other leadership positions including Vice President of Direct Marketing Strategy & Business Development and Vice President of Human Resource Transformation where she successfully led a global SAP HR and Payroll system implementation and also implemented the Company’s first shared services center. Before joining Pitney Bowes, she worked at Doubleday Direct, Inc., a subsidiary of Bertelsmann, Inc., as Senior Vice President, Finance and Operations and later as Executive Vice President, Marketing and Editorial. Prior to Doubleday Direct, Juanita built a progressive 20-year career with Time Warner, Inc. Among the many positions she held at Time-Warner, several were at the senior level including: President & CEO of Time-Life Libraries; Senior Vice President, Editorial of Book-Of-The Month Club, Inc; and Vice President and General Manager, Specialty Clubs for BOMC. Ms. James is a Director of the Asbury Automotive Group, and a member of the audit and compensation committees. She was a Director of the Rouse Company from 1989 until 2004, and served on the audit and executive committees, as well as chairperson of the nominating and governance. She is currently a member of the John Caples International Awards Board, the Corporate Advisory Council for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and chairs the development committee as a Director for Reading is Fundamental (RIF). She is an Emeritus Trustee of Princeton University, where she served actively from 1984 to1998.. Other community and civic responsibilities include being Board President for the Stamford Museum and Nature Center; a Trustee of Lesley University; a member of the Leadership Council for the Childcare Learning Centers of Stamford and former Director of the Stamford Symphony and Secretary of the Board for the Ferguson Library. Juanita is an ordained elder and deacon of the First Presbyterian Church in Stamford. Over the years, her commitment to the community has been acknowledged with numerous honors and awards including: the Southern Connecticut Urban League’s Community Service and Philanthropy Award, the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut’s “Women of Achievement Award”, the “Distinguished Achiever Leadership Award” from the Career Communications Group, Inc. the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from the Association of Black Princeton Alumni, the “Achievement Award” from the Greater New York Chapter of Links, the YMCA “National Black Achiever in Industry Award”, the Greenwich YWCA “Brava Award” and Time Inc.’s “Andrew Heiskell Award” for community service. In 2009, Diversity Journal named her one of the “25 Most Influential African Americans in Business”. Ms. James holds a Master’s Degree in Business Policy from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business Program where she received the Distinguished Service Award. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Romance Languages from Princeton University. Juanita currently resides in Stamford, Connecticut with her husband, Dudley N. Williams, Jr. and their son, Dudley N. Williams III.

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