James William Theres is an award-winning Public Affairs Officer and Speechwriter at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington D.C. He has received 10 national awards for speech writing, feature writing, event planning and media affairs. James has a BA in History from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and an MA in History from Jackson State University. James is also an independent filmmaker and has written, directed, and produced two award-winning documentaries, The 30th of May and The Hello Girls  and is the Producer/Distributor for a French animation L’arbre a Palimpseste written, directed, and produced by French filmmaker Ingrid Agbo.