Jim Zix

Overview: Career US Foreign Service officer, father of two children attending WBAIS (High School Division), married to Elizabeth since 1974. BS in General Studies and Business (1986); forty five hours towards MDiv (1990). Wide range of life-experience, in management, finance, human resources and engineering.

Aug 2007 to Present: Contracting and Shipping Officer, in the General Services section of the Embassy. In this role, I supervise ten local employees, and I am responsible for all purchasing and contracting done by US Embassy and most tenant organizations.

Feb 2005 to Aug 2007: Served as consular officer, adjudicating guest worker, treaty trader and other specialty visas in Monterrey Mexico. I also served as General Services Officer; was responsible for facilities, housing, purchasing and warehousing and received Meritorious Honor Award.

Mar 2004 to Feb 2005: Studied at Foreign Service Institute, Washington DC

April 2000 to Feb 2004: Director of Engineering, Marketing and Training, Broadcast Software International, Eugene Oregon. Developed and implemented training curriculum for both in-house employees and more than radio stations world-wide. I also developed cost-effective, methodical, software testing and debugging programs to allow firm to release new products to customers in a more timely fashion. Served as customer ombudsman to provide channel for customer feedback and to defuse sensitive situations. During my tenure, company sales increased three-fold.

Nov 1987 to April 2000: General Manager, Chief Engineer and Chief Financial Officer, WLAB Radio Ft Wayne Indiana. This non-commercial Christian station is owned by the Lutheran Church, and I was placed there while still in seminary. Under my direction, station retired more than $300,000 in debt and generated positive earnings for more than nine years, while increasing weekly measured audience size from 2,000 to more than 39,000. I served as General Contractor when the station was relocated to a new facility and specified and oversaw the construction of the facility and installation of the engineering infrastructure, which included more than twenty two computers in nineteen offices and studios. Supervised a full-time staff of nine.

“I would like to serve on the School Board in order to both better understand the problems facing WBAIS as well as contribute in some way back to the school community that has welcomed my children, wife and me. My previous work experience, as well as my previous volunteer experiences as vice president of a mid-sized congregation and treasurer of a large pre-school have shown me the value of sharing in responsibility and effort.”

E-mail: zixjl@state.gov