A Portfolio of Work
JamesThompson
Building connection
I always knew I wanted to lead, and through studying in Switzerland alongside 60+ different nationalities at a school rooted in an entrepreneurial ethos, I finally turned my ideas into reality.
| Leysin · Charlotte |
Self-actualizing,
Catalytic,
kinda crazy
I am not an engineer or a technology savant, but simply someone who loves to lead, pushing myself and others to ensure that work actually gets done on time. I am deeply involved with each individual member of a team, and I try my best to push everyone, including myself, to operate to the best of their abilities.
Represented at the Summit
Pending Sponsor| The Summit |
Leaders of Tomorrow
Co-founded and currently leading alongside two peers, LOT is our inaugural student-led non-profit geopolitics summit, convening students from five Swiss boarding schools with leaders from across the world. After weeks of communication, a sponsorship by UBS is pending the final legal and bureaucratic confirmation, delayed due to their recent look to relocate outside of Switzerland.
Click on the logos to view more information on our confirmed speakers. The Prime Minister of Greece is a pending invitation: his office has voiced his desire to attend, though his attendance is not yet confirmed until we iron out the details with UBS.
We are actively extending out invites to Gautam Adani, Kellyanne Conway, the Marinho brothers, and more; however, attendance is pending. The Adani family responded, voicing their support and desire to join; however, they have yet to officially confirm their attendance. The Marinho brothers likewise responded personally: one of them intends to come if he can find time in his schedule.
The conference is separated into three panels: finance, media, and shipping. The keynote is reserved for Arnoldo Wald Filho, and the Greek Prime Minister if he confirms. Shipping brings together Luciano Medeiros and George Karagerogiou; media features a Grupo Globo executive representative and potentially Kellyanne Conway; and finance features Dimitrios Athanasopoulos and Peter Wallenberg Jr. Chris Cillizza is moderating the conference.
| The Prototype |
The Build Studio
Working in construction, my parents developed a software (The Build Studio) for private use to centralize schedules, work orders, PM tasks, budgets, etc. of each of their clients’ homes into one place. Seeing this centralization on the management side, I thought to the clients. In custom home building, at least where we live, the client is extremely involved in choosing interior selections, roofing, and every minor detail of the home. For someone unfamiliar with construction, managing all these selections on time, while tracking what else is going on with their home, can be a challenge. So, I created an app which centralizes everything they need to manage for the build right from their phone.
It has since been sent to a web development company, Enertia Enterprises Inc, to link the site directly to The Build Studio and StealthCRX, an AI-powered security system that monitors every job site. Through this, home progress and selection requirements will update with live timelines, and the homeowner will be able to view a live video of their home at all times.
| Leadership |
Leading by Doing
01 · Student Voice
Student Council President
Student Council President at Leysin American School. I advocated the student voice with heads of departments, helping add a poke bowl bar, reworking class periods to shorten the lunch line, and changing the lunch menu. I also personally designed the senior jacket and sourced a high-quality manufacturer, brought the American tradition of senior assassin abroad, and founded an eco initiative that gave free water bottles to every student.
02 · Service
Sethule Trust
I co-fundraised $24,000 USD for the Sethule Trust in Zimbabwe. Over Spring Break I visited the institutions the trust helps fund (a high school, a pre-school, and an orphanage), where we helped erect a concrete wall, paint playgrounds, and update exteriors.
We also got the chance to befriend the students. I brought along Kalix, a bright local orphan, rooming with him as we visited landmarks of his country he would not otherwise have seen, such as Victoria Falls and safaris.
03 · Entrepreneurship
Peerly
Co-founded Peerly, a peer-to-peer tutoring app for students within the same school. It currently operates with 8 active tutors across 90% of subjects offered at LAS, with plans to white-label and expand to other schools in the following months.
Alongside course tutoring, the app offers tutors for SAT and self-study options, linking to personally vetted SAT YouTube videos and hundreds of downloadable practice questions from CollegeBoard with the simple click of a button.
For privacy purposes, the app is restricted to only those with an LAS email.
04 · Internship
Thompson Building Group
Interned at Thompson Building Group, a custom residential construction company, where I developed a strategy to optimize finances through AI and new hires, projecting a saving of $300k+ annually with future scalability.
I pitched it to the CEO, and he has now integrated AI tools into the company for the first time and hired an assistant to help with finances, reducing liabilities and unnecessary revenue losses.
I also walked sites with clients, PMs, and the CEO, took notes and offered my perspective in meetings, and researched and budgeted 3+ viable estimating softwares to adopt.
05 · Young Entrepreneurs of Switzerland
Blüm
As CMO of our local 100% Swiss organic gummy company, I created the recipe and made the product myself, alongside the advertisement and website.
06 · National Honor Society
NHS
The longest-standing member of the National Honor Society at LAS, where I raised funds and donated a gym to a local refugee center, and led raffles, auctions, and more.
| Background |
Leysin American School, IB Diploma student.