James M. Mead is an economist, business executive, investor and philanthropist. He is founder and managing director of JM Mead, LLC. Founded in 2004, the firm provides advisory services in health economics and healthcare financing to private equity firms, investment banking firms and emerging companies.
Mr. Mead is currently a member of the Board and Treasurer of the American Friends of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (London, UK). He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Corrum Capital Management (Charlotte, NC) and Director Emeritus of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, where he served as Chairman and played an significant role in rebuilding the Harrisburg Symphony Pops series of concerts.
Prior to founding JM Mead, LLC, Mr. Mead retired from Capital Blue Cross (Harrisburg, PA) in 2004 after thirty years with the company, the last 20 of which he was President and Chief Executive Officer. During his tenure Capital Blue Cross expanded its footprint and portfolio through acquisitions and the creation of new subsidiaries adding several innovative services and product lines while growing its traditional health insurance business at unprecedented rates. For over 15 years he was a member of the Board of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the national associate of what is today 33 local and independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Companies. In addition, he served as a member of the Board and Chairman of BCS Financial Corporation (Chicago, IL) a holding company providing innovative insurance and financial services in all fifty states and abroad.
From 2006 to 2025 he was a Venture Partner with Radius Venture Partner III, a New York based venture capital fund focused on investments in healthcare and life sciences entities. From 2015 to 2019, he served as President and CEO of PinnacleCare International, a healthcare navigation and advisory service company headquartered in Baltimore, MD, becoming Vice Chairman in 2020 until its sale to Sun Life in 2021.
From 1989 to 1995 Mr. Mead was a member of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and served as its Chairman from 1993 to 1995. From 2007 to 2017 he was a member of the board and non-executive President and Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Hershey Trust Company which manages the over $23 billion trust established by Milton S. Hershey, founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company. In addition, he was a member of the Boards of Directors of the publicly traded Hershey Company, the Milton Hershey School, and Chairman of the M. S. Hershey Foundation. In 2005 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania appointed Mr. Mead to the Board of the Pennsylvania Lawyer Fund for Client Security, serving as its Chairman from 2008 to 2011. From 2006 to 2015, he was Secretary/Treasurer and Board Member of the International Life Sciences Institute (Washington, DC).
Other previous board memberships include SYFT, Inc (Tampa, FL), Inpatient Medical Services (Akron, Ohio) and the Executive Advisory Board of 1-800-DOCTORS (Iselin, NJ). Mr. Mead has a wide range of other corporate board and governance experience, having served on over 35 boards of public, private and charitable corporations as well as several government related boards and advisory committees. Early in his career he was a member of the faculty of Penn State Harrisburg and Chief of Staff to the Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Mead is a member of the Penn Club of New York and the Common Good, one of the nation’s premier nonprofit, nonpartisan, pro-democracy organizations that promotes civil and informed discourse on major public policy issues.
Among the many honors he has received, Mr. Mead was named a Penn State Alumni Fellow in 1986, the most prestigious award given by the Penn State University Alumni Association. In 2017, he received the Milton Hershey School Board of Managers Chairman’s Medallion, awarded in recognition of demonstrating exceptional integrity, leadership, and commitment to the school's mission
He holds B.S. and M.A. degrees in economics from The Pennsylvania State University.
