My name is James “Skip” Burns and I am a project manager with a background in workforce development and sales. I went to the University of New Hampshire and spent two years in AmeriCorps *NCCC and traveled doing service project where I learned that helping people was really my passion. I returned to UNH and got a Master’s in Education and lived in Boston for over a decade working at different nonprofits. In 2019 I moved down to Charlotte, North Carolina to help Year Up start a new site. It was a great opportunity and North Carolina has been good to me.

For fun, I love being active. I enjoy biking, hiking, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I think that getting a good workout done can really change the whole trajectory of your day. This is a passion I share with my wife. We met through the alumni network of a nonprofit called Bike & Build. We both did cross country charity bicycle rides. We got married December 2024 and bicycled from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain along the Camino de Santiago for our honeymoon.