James Dower

Jim Dower is the Co-Founder and CEO of Urban Initiatives, a Chicago nonprofit that uses the power of sport and play to help young people build skills, relationships, and pathways to opportunity. A proud Chicago Public Schools graduate, Loyola Rambler, University of Iowa Hawkeye, and 2014 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, Jim began his career as a CPS substitute teacher before co-founding Urban Initiatives in 2003 with a $17,000 budget. Under his leadership, Urban Initiatives has grown into an organization with an annual budget of more than $8 million, reaching over 100,000 young people each year and building stronger communities through the power of human connection.