James H. Buford, a native St. Louisan, served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis from 1985-2013. It was Buford who brought JAG to Missouri in 1981, serving as its first CEO. In November 2017, he received JAG’s first-ever Legacy Award at the annual JAG National Student Leadership Academy in Washington, D.C.
Upon becoming the sixth president of the Urban League in 1985, Buford helped reorganize the League to meet challenges and opportunities of a changing social and economic climate. In 1986, the Urban League received its charter to establish the Urban League Guild, and in 1987, the agency’s Board of Directors accepted the first youth auxiliary, the Progressive Young Adults (ProYA). In 1998, Buford led the Urban League in redefining its service areas as service regions, becoming St. Louis County Region, St. Louis City Region and St. Clair County Region. In 2001, Mr. Buford piloted a partnership between the Urban League and the YWCA to run the national Head Start program in St. Louis City.
As an advocate for social and economic parity, Buford is often a vocal spokesperson on behalf of Urban League constituents. In this role he speaks to diverse audiences, which embody grassroots to corporate representatives.
On the state level, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan appointed Buford as secretary of the St. Louis County Board of Elections in 1993 and in 2005, Mayor Francis Slay appointed Buford to the St. Louis Public School Board.
Over the years, Buford has received many awards, including St. Louis’s Citizen of the Year Award in 2012.
Buford holds a B.A. in Human Services Administration from Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He also holds honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degrees from Harris Stowe State College in 1993; University of Missouri of St. Louis in 1995; Webster University in 2000; Eden Theological Seminary in 2006; and Fontbonne University in 2010.