James Brooks Ayres Robertson, IV is a skilled communicator in the written and spoken word. Creative thinker and innovator, Brooks grew up in Washington, D.C. where he attended St. Albans School and was awarded a scholarship to Oxford University his senior year to study writing.  He then matriculated at Brown University (B.A. Political Science). His finals’ thesis was titled: “An Analysis of the Maoist Strategy of Collectivization (i.e. Modernization) and Its Implication for Third World Communalism.”

Over the next fifteen years Brooks worked as a Congressional assistant on Capitol Hill followed by a stint as an on air news reporter for a CBS television affiliate. At the New York City headquarters of the St. Regis Paper Company he served as manager for Treasury Financial Services, administering long-term debt in excess of $100 million and creating and implementing a centralized personnel relocation program before Champion International acquired the company in a mergers and acquisitions takeover. Brooks was Owner’s Representative, Executive Manager and Project Managing Director on multi million dollar capital projects for several properties in the downtown Wall Street area of New York City, acting as liaison with the major lender, General Electric Capital Corporation.

After a personal trip to the Middle Kingdom, Brooks co founded the Grace Children’s Foundation (GCF), a United States based 501 (c)(3) organization established in 1997. The Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of children in need globally through GCF’s Children’s Resource Exchange (CRE) model with a focus on pediatric healthcare. Over the past two decades he has served as GCF’s China Coordinator and Communications Director, responsible for all of the Foundation’s media content, including scripting an award winning video hosted by Meryl Streep. Brooks continuously exercises his writing and strategic oversight capabilities, most recently advancing the Foundation’s work and plans for the CRE connective digital platform through a partnership with innovators at Microsoft and Microsoft Philanthropies.

His work has afforded Brooks and his family a life of diverse experiences. Commuting between New York City and Beijing, he has written for a Chinese magazine since 2012. His monthly columns range from fresh slice of life pieces that inform and bridge the cultural divide between our two nations to insightful commentary that draws on his unique perspective in the ever evolving balancing act that is Sino-U.S. relations.  He also enjoyed bringing a western teaching approach to Beijing where he is professor emeritus at China Women’s University.