Mr. James is a lawyer, banker, developer, consultant and native of Savannah, Georgia, expert in the areas of community development finance, public finance, real estate development, and supplier diversity. Since 2001, Mr. James has served as Carver State Bank’s Director of Strategic Initiatives and a member of the Bank’s board of directors.  In these capacities, he is responsible for strategic planning for the bank, as well as its community development finance efforts.  He has helped Carver raise over $6 million in community development awards, helped the bank earn over $1 million for its participation in New Markets Tax Credit transactions, and led the bank to its $30 million allocation of New Markets Tax Credits, awarded for the 2017 round. This award was the first such allocation ever awarded to a Georgia community bank and the first ever awarded to a Georgia entity outside of Atlanta. He has primary responsibility for placement and management of Carver’s NMTC allocation as President of Carver Development CDE, LLC. Mr. James is also a partner at the law firm Golden Holley James LLP, a boutique commercial and corporate law firm nationally recognized for its expertise in public and corporate finance, commercial banking and lending, real estate development, and governmental affairs.  The firm has offices in New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Savannah.  Mr. James, who is a member of the New York and Georgia bars, represents issuers and underwriters and many major bond underwriters as bond counsel, disclosure counsel or underwriter’s counsel. Since joining the firm in 2009, James has had an active role in documenting and closing nearly $16 billion in transactions. Mr. James is also President of Coastal Legacy Group, LLC, a company he founded in 2004.  Coastal Legacy Group is a real estate development and consulting firm.  The firm’s signature project is the Carver Commons shopping center in Savannah, which opened in March 2011, bringing millions in private investment to the distressed Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard neighborhood.  Robert is a board member of both the National Bankers Association, the leading advocacy group for the nation’s minority banks, and the Community Development Bankers Association, which represents CDFI banks across the country.  He is also a member of Alpha Lambda Boule’ of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and Mu Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He earned the Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts and a Bachelor of Arts Degree, magna cum laude, from Howard University in Washington, D.C.