James E. Canales

Jim Canales is Chief Executive Officer of Pilot House Associates, LLC, based in Boston, MA. Jim earlier served as president of the Barr Foundation from 2014-2025. Prior to joining Barr, he spent two decades in a variety of roles at The James Irvine Foundation in California, including president and chief executive officer from 2003 through 2014.

Before working in philanthropy, Jim was a high school English teacher in San Francisco after earning a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University. He maintains a broad range of volunteer engagements, serving as chair of the board at the Barr Foundation, president of the board of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and a trustee of the Boston Public Library and the Eastern Bank Foundation. 

Jim’s prior board involvement includes service as a Stanford University trustee from 2006 through 2015. He has served as chair of the boards of the College Futures Foundation, KQED Public Broadcasting, the Stanford Alumni Association, and Larkin Street Youth Services, and as vice chair of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He is also a co-founder and former board chair of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations.

Jim’s writing on a range of topics has appeared in The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review, among other outlets.