Founder and General Counsel

Jim Kelly is the founder of the Georgia HEART Hospital Program, LLC, for which he serves as General Counsel. He also founded and serves as General Counsel for the GOAL Scholarship Program. Since 1996, Jim has been a leader in the areas of educational and religious freedom from legislative, appellate advocacy, and policy perspectives. He is the Founder of International Law and Liberty Society, Inc., an international network of lawyer and law student groups located in 25 nations in five continents. He has served on the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission, Georgia Board of Juvenile Justice, and Georgia Commission on Civics Education. Jim was appointed by the U.S. State Department to serve on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO (2005-2008) and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (2019-2023). Jim earned his business and law degrees from the University of Georgia and has earned Master of Taxation, Master of Nonprofit Management, and Master of International Relations degrees.