James Forrest

James has been working with non-profit educational institutions since 2012, in roles ranging from Academic Tutor to Executive Administrative Assistant and Procurement Specialist. He holds a BA from UC Santa Cruz and a MA from the University of Copenhagen, both in Philosophy with a specialization in Philosophy of Science. He is also a NAPEX-accredited Associate Procurement Professional and holds a graduate-level Offshore Wind Professional Certificate from the University of Massachusetts.

In 2019 his love of helping people and problem-solving brought him to his role at Norcal APEX Accelerator (formerly Norcal PTAC), where he serves as a Procurement Specialist. Among other things, he is their resident expert in wildfire contracting, regularly assisting nearly 100 clients to participate in US Forest Service and CAL FIRE emergency incident response and forest stewardship efforts. He is enthusiastic about utilizing his skills in communication and education around complex topics to help small businesses and the broader public.