James Smith

James Smith is an educator, entrepreneur and speaker who helps students imagine wider futures. His dynamic and enthusiastic presentation style combined with his 20 years of business experience in a variety of disciplines makes James a compelling storyteller, and captivating example for students. James is currently the General Manager of Young Wisdom and has recently founded Consensus Education, which is a charity working to combat educational inequality.

As a self confessed autodidact, James’ professional life has always been deliberately varied. While his first business was in IT services (built off his childhood passion for building and fixing computers and started just out of high school), his true skill lay in being a jack of all trades who believed that he could solve almost all problems for others with a positive mindset and good communication skills. You’d be hard pressed to find a speaker who is more of a ‘generalist’ than James, who would be just as happy speaking about the life lessons he could draw from being a band conductor and selling his own music, as he would be talking about his days as a trivia host, network administrator or champion debating coach in a business with over 100 employees. James learned early that careers are rarely linear, and that skills travel further than job titles suggest. As such, he loves to encourage students to follow their passions - while always looking for opportunities to solve problems for others of course! As a side project, James now runs Consensus Education, an ACNC registered charity that he started during Covid, which is dedicated to combating educational inequality by improving access to high-quality learning opportunities for HPG students who might otherwise miss out. James’ sessions with students are reflective, engaging and practical. Rather than presenting a single definition of success, he invites students to explore multiple pathways, recognise transferable skills, and see learning as something that continues well beyond school. For school leaders, his work offers a credible, values-driven way to inspire students — grounded in experience, optimism and real-world insight.

Years founding

10-20 years

Experience

ACNC Registered Charity, Social Enterprise, Traditional Small to Medium Business, Self-Employed / Freelancing, School or Community Based Initiative / Event

Available

In-person: Sydney North, In-person: Sydney CBD, In-person: Sydney East, Online (Zoom or Similar)

Typical windows

Wednesday PM, Thursday PM, Friday AM, Friday PM, Thursday AM