Faith Rivers James

• Executive Director
• Coastal Conservation League
• https://www.coastalconservationleague.org/

Faith is a Mount Pleasant native who grew up in the historic Four Mile community East of the Cooper River. She has felt a connection to the landscape of the Lowcountry all her life, and witnessed firsthand the change that unbridled growth and development can have on our beloved environment. She is consistently reminded of how we are all interconnected and dependent on this environment, and how protecting and conserving these resources can positively impact us all. She has devoted her energy, expertise, and legal acumen to influence this conservation in pragmatic and entrepreneurial ways.

Faith is a graduate of the Porter-Gaud School in Charleston, Dartmouth College, and Harvard Law School. Following schooling, she launched a legal career in Washington, D.C. Within four years, she was negotiating the federal budget as senior counsel to the House Majority Leader of the Congress. Soon after, she returned to South Carolina and served as Executive Director of the South Carolina Bar Foundation. There, she was fortunate to be able to work in partnership with the Coastal Community Foundation to launch the Heirs’ Property Preservation Project, an issue that remains near and dear to her heart.  

Later, her law teaching career led her to focus on property and environmental issues at Vermont Law School and Elon University School of Law, where she served as Associate Dean of experiential learning and leadership. At Elon, she launched a Law and Leadership program, helped mount the Elon Law Environmental Law Society, and spearheaded a joint JD/Master of Science in Environmental Law and Policy program with Vermont Law.

Faith returned home to the Lowcountry in 2018 to serve as the Assistant Provost for Leadership and Chair of the Department of Leadership Studies at The Citadel, where she taught the next generation of our state’s leaders.

Throughout her work and life, Faith has always prioritized the conservation of natural resources, protecting our rural landscapes, and preserving communities, and is grateful to have the opportunity to do so in the role of Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation League. Faith has served as Executive Director since August 2022.