James Boyd

James Boyd has spent the last fourteen years working for the commonwealth government across the arts and cultural sector, philanthropy and business to encourage innovative cross-sector engagement through strategic partnerships, sponsorship and philanthropy. He has mentored and coached over 250 arts companies in WA and SA on strategic sustainability and fundraising. As Development Director at the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, he was one of the first to introduce US style fundraising practices in a major Australian arts company. From 2008-2012 he was a member of Artsupport Australia, an Australia Council for the Arts team that brokered over $80million of philanthropic support to the arts from trusts and foundations. He has also led several philanthropy tours to the Kimberley to grow support for Aboriginal arts and cultural organisations.

James is the National Convenor of Collective Giving Australia, an organisation championing collaborative philanthropy. He co-founded Impact100 WA (www.impact100wa.org.au) in 2012 and has since helped Impact100 groups develop in Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Sydney North and Adelaide. In 2017, he led the research Collective Giving and its Role in Australian Philanthropy to inform the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership. In 2021, in response to the challenges the arts faced during COVID-19, he co-founded Arts Impact WA (www.artsimpactwa.org), Australian’s first collective giving group to specifically support individual artists and small arts organisation with game-changing, $100,000 grants.

James is State Manager Development and Partnerships, WA, Creative Australia; a graduate of the Executive Program for Non-profit Leaders in the Arts, Stanford University, USA; has a Graduate Certificate of Social Impact from UWA; and a BA Arts Management from WAAPA.