Jim Gladfelter

If Given A Chance.org

Napa, CA

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Jim, a CPA, provides pro bono accounting services as the treasurer of If Given a Chance, a nonprofit that serves traumatized youth throughout Napa County. The organization helps young people with challenging family circumstances achieve their educational goals through financial support, mentoring and a continuum of care program.

His involvement with If Given a Chance began in 2008, when Jim and his husband William S. Chiat sponsored a scholarship for LGBTQ students. Many years later, a neighbor recruited him as the organization’s volunteer treasurer. After William passed away in 2020, Jim raised more than $70,000 to create a scholarship fund in his late husband’s name.

“Education was my husband’s passion, and I firmly believe that it is that one of the things that nobody can take away from you,” Jim says. “Your education is yours to keep.”

His greatest satisfaction in working with If Given a Chance has been watching the organization grow to become not only financially viable, but on truly sound footing. “Seeing that we can go to the next level and expand the number of students that we’re covering is probably the best thing I’ve seen happen,” Jim says.

Jim is also on the finance committee at the Cope Family Center in Napa, and has been a hospice volunteer at Collabria Care in Napa for the last 15 years. He also supports the Trevor Project, a national crisis resource for LGBTQ kids who are experiencing suicidal ideations.