A Note from the Rev. Phil Jackson Naming New Chief Operating Officer

I’m excited to announce that Jim Johnson will join Trinity on June 8 as our Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Jim will oversee our core operational functions–  Communications & Marketing, the new Data, Analytics & Infrastructure team, Finance, Human Resources, and Legal– and the leaders of those departments will report to Jim.

As I’ve gotten to know Jim over the past few months, I’ve been struck by not just his years of experience and expertise in legal and government work, but also by his commitment to justice, his sense of responsibility to his community, and his warmth and collegiality. Over the course of his career, he has made strides in public policy, acquired deep experience in the law, business, and politics, and has grounded it all in a faith nurtured as the grandson of a preacher and son of a church organist. As we work now to implement the plans we’ve developed with PwC and deepen our impact in our neighborhood, help our city recover from the pandemic, and continue the work of addressing systemic inequity, Jim’s expertise and leadership will be critical to our success, and I’m thrilled to have him on board.  

Jim comes to us from his role as Corporation Counsel for New York City’s Law Department, the largest municipal law department in the country. Prior to that, he was Special Counsel to Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, where he led the review of the state’s 2016 takeover of Atlantic City and charted the course for its future. He also was a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.

Jim has served on the boards of several nonprofits, including the Brennan Center for Justice, Citizens Campaign, Harvard University’s Board of Overseers, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and Jazz House Kids. Jim has a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from Harvard and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School. He is married to Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, and they have four adult children, Natalie and Miles Bergner and Abigail and Amalya Johnson.  

On behalf of all of us at Trinity, I also want to extend my deep thanks to Meredith Jenkins, who in addition to her role as Chief Investment Officer has been Acting COO for the past 14 months. Meredith helped keep all of our operations running smoothly– during a pandemic– and worked closely with our Vestry as well. Thank you, Meredith; I hope you are looking forward to a more restful summer!

Please join me in welcoming Jim to Trinity.