Local History - Jim and his husband Brian Sandquist purchased their Chambers-Frey design home in 2018. They had been renting homes for a month each year for five years to test the living experience within different Palm Springs communities before finding their home in the Historic Tennis Club Neighborhood (HTCN). Using their new mid-century home at first as a vacation home they sold their primary residence in Laguna Beach and moved full time to Palm Springs after retiring from their careers at the end of June 2022. Seeking to become engaged in local community organizations Jim began serving this year on the HTCN Modernism Committee. Their home will be featured on this year's 2024 HTCN Modernism Tour and was also one of the five homes on the Modernism Signature Tour in 2020. As an architect Jim has a passion for quality design, sustainability, historic structures and livable communities that enrich the lives of those who use them.

Career - Jim graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1984 with a Bachelor Degree in Architecture. First practicing for a firm in Maryland where he interned as part of a "Gifted and Talented" Internship Program during High School. Specializing in the design of school facilities Jim relocated to Southern California in 1985 and was hired by a firm in Newport Beach. Where he was promoted to Associate and then Partner within eight years. In 1994 he was recruited by LPA, Inc. to found the firm's Educational Practice. Helping to diversify the firm from purely corporate clients to include public institutions. This addition significantly contributed to the growth of the firm over the next 28 years from just 40 employees when he first joined to over 400 when he retired from his position as a Principal and Director of the K-12 Practice. Over the years educational facilities comprised on average from 30% to 50% of LPA's total revenue and workload. Jim's responsibilities included the strategic direction of his Practice, marketing, business development, client management, educational programing and design. He developed a pioneering approach to community engagement and master planning for K-12 school districts to develop a unique roadmap for each client that envisioned the future improvement of their school facilities. As part of the planning process Jim collaborated with the full range of demographic, state program funding, financial, bond counsel and campaign strategy consultants to assure the client and district board of trustees that nothing was overlooked. Resulting in a final plan that comprehensively examined all potential issues, coordinated improvements with community goals, and tied proposed projects to actual funding sources. Assisting school districts with communication of vision and needs to the local community when soliciting support for the successful passage of a local bond measure to fund the improvements. Out of the 100+ districts that utilized LPA for development of their master plan only two have had their measure campaign fail when they put one forward for the community's consideration.

Critical to the dramatic year over year consistent growth of LPA were the strategies that Jim implemented for engagement with professional organizations. These groups support knowledge transfer, peer mentorship and professional development within the educational market. Organizations included ACSA, CASBO, NSBA,  A4LE and CASH (Coalition for Adequate School Housing) where he was a frequent presenter, annual conference committee co-chair and sought-out leader to help local districts understand future educational trends and strategic approaches for the best utilization of their facilities in support of increased student learning and achievement. For CASH Jim also hosted and organized an event which raised over $150,000 in support of the 2018 State-wide educational facilities bond campaign. At LPA in addition to his leadership of the K-12 Practice, Jim also oversaw the efforts of the firm-wide Marketing Group staff and served on the LPA Board.

Community Engagement - Both Jim and his husband Brian since they met over twenty years ago have believed that it is important to give back to your local community and other organizations where you have an affinity for their mission. Non-profit organizations and charitable events that they have supported include the LA Philharmonic, HRC (Human Rights Campaign) members at the President's Circle level, Share Our Wine annual giving event, and the Orangewood Children's Foundation where Jim served on the Ambassador Committee assisting with fundraising efforts. Through their partnership with Orangewood Jim joined their mission to develop a new public charter high school in Orange County that would address the special needs of foster students and other underserved populations. At L:PA he led the programming and design process for the resulting Samueli Academy project which welcomed its first 120 9th grade students in the fall of 2013, added 7-8th middle school grades in 2020, and then in 2023 growing to the full master plan 775 student capacity. Developing a highly successful hands-on STEM based program USnews currently ranks The Academy within the top 5% of schools nationally. Jim and Brian's connection with the Academy has continued since its completion through their creation and funding of the "High Potential Scholarship" which at the "Seniors Award Night" on an annual basis awards a 4-year College Scholarship to a traditionally overlooked high-need student that has recently found their focus and demonstrated transformational improvement while at Samueli Academy.