Jim Conzelman is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Ripon Society, a centrist, Republican, policy organization promoting excellence in government, and serves as President of the Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange.

Prior to joining Ripon, Jim worked with former Congressman Michael G. Oxley at the law firm of BakerHostetler as Senior Advisor. Jim served for 25 years as Chief of Staff to Congressman Oxley (R-OH), managing Oxley’s Washington, district and committee staff. From 2000-2006, as Counselor to the House Financial Services Committee Chair, he worked on the Sarbanes Oxley Act, USA Patriot Act, and Terrorism Risk Insurance. Prior to his appointment to Congressman Oxley’s staff, Jim worked at the Gerald Ford White House as staff assistant to the President for speech writing, research and advance. He also worked in the Congressional Liaison Office for President George H.W. Bush’s and President Ronald Reagan’s Inaugural Committee. Jim served on the Select Committee on Assassinations Reinvestigating the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As the senior investigative analyst he was responsible for the ballistics analysis of the murder weapons of President Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald.

Jim is the past Chairman of the National Capital Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and currently sits on the Capitol Hill Club Board of Governors. He is an active member and former President of the Republican House and Senate Chief of Staff’s organization, and has been named to Who’s Who in American Politics, Men of Merit Cambridge, England, and the American Council of Young Political Leaders. Jim was named “Capitol Hill Staffer of the Year” by the American Society of Association Executives in 2005. Campaigns and Elections Magazine cited Jim as one of the five most influential and powerful chiefs of staff on Capitol Hill in 2006. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society recognized Jim with the “Norman Cohn Hope Award” for his volunteerism and leadership.

Jim is a graduate of Montana State University and Harvard University’s Program for Senior Managers in Government, and has served as a Congressional fellow with the John C. Stennis Fellowship Program.