At-Large Director, IWIL Board
Los Angeles, CA
James Keshavarz, M.S., M.B.A., is the Chief Wellness Officer for Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and has over 20 years of experience working in the well-being industry. He is also an At-Large Board Member for the Institute for Well-being in Law, and an appointed American Bar Association Well-Being Pledge Committee member. Additionally, James has trained over 500 attorneys in Mental Health First Aid.
James is also a medical reservist in the United States Air Force Reserves, serving as the NCOIC of Professional Development, Master Resilience Trainer and Suicide Prevention Instructor for the 752nd Medical Squadron. He is the recipient of the Global War on Terrorism Medal, Nuclear Deterrence Medal, and the Air Force Humanitarian Medal. In 2018, he was awarded the Airman of the Year award for his work improving resiliency for the 452nd Air Mobility Wing.
James takes a kinesiology approach to corporate well-being, addressing root causes rather than symptoms, focusing on policy changes and initiatives that promote psychological safety over solely treating immediate problems. He believes that every population has unique well-being needs, and the only way to truly address these needs is through empathetic listening skills, as well as applying positive psychology and organizational psychology theories and models. As a lifelong student of psychology, James specializes in intrinsic motivation, transformational leadership, and emotional intelligence.
Prior to his work in the legal professional well-being movement, James was a practicing kinesiologist specializing in injury prevention and performance enhancement. He also served as an adjunct instructor of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at Glendale Community College, where he was awarded the Distinguished Professor Award in 2019.