James J. (Jim) Conway, Senior Trainer

James J. (Jim) Conway
Search Institute Senior Trainer
Vision Training Associates
Home State: Wisconsin

Professional Experience
James Conway is a veteran trainer with over 12 years experience providing training and consultation to youth-serving professionals and volunteers in organizations in the United States and abroad. He also served for over 15 years in leadership roles of various programs for children and young adolescents.

Contributions to Search Institute
As a senior trainer, Conway represents Search Institute as a public speaker and trainer for organizations and communities interested in building Developmental Assets for and with youth, starting a community-wide initiative, or creating organizational and community change on behalf of youth. He also provides leadership in the design and development of many of Search Institute’s core training offerings.

Conway’s other areas of special expertise include:

Early adolescent development
Parent education
Program planning and assessment
Literacy development

Major Trainings and Presentations
James Conway has delivered hundreds of presentations including workshops and keynote addresses. In addition to numerous local and state organizations and institutions, some of the national organizations with which Conway has made major presentations include: Children’s Defense Fund, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), National School-Age Child Care Alliance, YMCA of the USA, Public/Private Ventures, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Work/Family Directions, Family Resource Coalition, National Park and Recreation Association, Boys Town, International Reading Association, National Middle School Association, Center for Ministry Development, and National 4-H.

Conway is also a member of the national training team National Institute on Out-of-School Time, Wellesley College, MA

Curriculum and Training Design

Coordinator and lead trainer/designer, Habits of the Heart Project on Youth as Resources, Search Institute, Minneapolis, MN, March 2000–December 2001
Lead trainer and designer with training delivery in seven cities, Uniting Congregations for Youth Development Project, Search Institute, Minneapolis, MN, October 1995–October 1999
Design team, Middle School Youth Project, Work/Family Directions, Inc., Boston, MA, 1995–1998
Revision teams and lead trainer (including training of trainers), Living with 10- to 15-Year-Olds: A Parent Education Curriculum and 3:00 to 6:00 PM: Planning Programs for Young Adolescents, Center for Early Adolescence, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1987–1995

Major Publications

Integrating Assets into Congregations: A Curriculum for Trainers (Search Institute, 2000)
Get On Board (co-authored with Jolene L. Roehlkepartain, Search Institute, 1999)
Building by Design: Creating Democratic Communities in Programs for 10- to 15-Year-Olds, (Contributing writer on adolescent developmental issues, Work/Family Directions, Boston, MA, 1998)
“Concepts About 10- to 15-Year-Olds” (Review and revision of research base for Planning Programs for Young Adolescents curriculum, Center for Early Adolescence, Chapel Hill, NC, 1994)

Professional History
Before he began training and consulting for Search Institute in 1995, Conway served for eight years as director of training at the Center for Early Adolescence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to his work with the Center, he spent over 15 years in youth work, primarily in New York City. Some of his positions included:

Camp Director, Recreation Director, and Co-Director of Youth Cross-Country Camping Program, Shelley’s All-Stars, Inc., New York, NY
Recreation Consultant, Corlears School and Public School #3, New York, NY
Co-Director, Teen Drop-In Center, Lower East Side, New York, NY

Education