Kellee James

Founder and CEO of Mercaris

Kellee James is Founder and CEO of Mercaris, a market data service and trading platform for organic, non-GMO and other identity-preserved agricultural commodities. Prior to Mercaris, Kellee spent five years at the start-up company Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the first electronic trading platform and registry for spot, futures and optionscontracts on carbon, sulfur, clean energy and other environmental derivatives. CCX was acquired by the InterContinental Exchange in 2010. In 2009, she was appointed by President Barack Obama as a White House Fellow where she advised members of the administration on environmental markets. She has also worked with coffee farmers and commodity banks in Latin America on risk management and income diversification strategies. Kellee was named by both Black Enterprise Magazine and Crain’s Chicago Business Magazine as a ’40 under 40′ rising leader. Ms. James is an Aspen Institute Catto Environmental Fellow and has also served on the board of Net Impact, a membership organization of more than 12,000 MBA professionals committed to sustainability through corporate responsibility. She is currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies, a think tank in Washington, DC. Kellee received her MBA and MA in International Development from American University and completed a BA in Spanish from the University of Kentucky.