Meet James
James Walkinshaw was born and raised in Northern Virginia and has devoted his career to ensuring that our community remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family. He lives in the Truro neighborhood of Fairfax County with his wife, Yvette, and their son, Mateo.
During more than a decade of service as Chief of Staff to Congressman Gerry Connolly, James oversaw all aspects of the Congressman’s office and served as his chief adviser on a host of issues, working closely with state and local officials. He worked alongside Congressman Connolly to pass the Affordable Care Act, fight climate change, secure federal funding for Fairfax, and deliver for federal employees.
Since his election to the Board of Supervisors in 2019, James has focused on solving everyday problems for the communities he represents and making real progress on issues that matters. On the Board, he has led efforts to ban guns from libraries and rec centers, improve pay and benefits for working families, extend tax relief to seniors and military families, fight climate change, and keep our local environment clean and healthy.
James was Congressman Connolly’s Chief of Staff during Donald Trump’s first term and knows what it takes to fight Trump and win. When James and the Board of Supervisors refused to turn our local police into Trump’s mass deportation force, Trump’s henchman Stephen Miller threatened him with jail time. James didn’t back down. And when he was attacked by Trump’s EPA Administrator for his initiative to reduce plastic pollution in our local environment, James doubled down and pressed forward.
James graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics in 2005. He has volunteered as a mentor to at-risk youth through Fairfax County’s Befriend-A-Child program, and served as Chair of Fairfax County’s Council to End Domestic Violence where he helped lead the effort to create the county’s “Make the Call” campaign to help victims get access to the services they need. James is a former vice president of the Ravensworth Farm Civic Association and volunteer with the Friends of Lake Accotink Park.
He serves as Chair of both the Board of Supervisors’ Legislative Committee and Environmental Committee, where he leads Fairfax County’s efforts to address Richmond’s underfunding of public education and to address climate change. He also leads the Fairfax County-City of Fairfax interjurisdictional committee, where he has built new partnerships between the county and city, benefiting residents of both. As Chair of the VRE Operations Board, he worked to expand rail service and institute VRE’s first-ever Saturday service. He currently serves as Chair of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board, our region’s federally-designated Metropolitan Planning Organization, where he is leading the development of our region’s transportation plan.
James also serves on the following committees:
- Northern Virginia Regional Commission
- COG Board of Directors
- COG Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee
- Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, Principal, VRE Operation
- COG Region Forward Committee, Principal
- George Mason University Fairfax Campus Advisory Board
- Virginia Association of Counties
