Christy James is the newly appointed Research Associate - Program Initiation Manager with the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory. Before ASDL, she worked for the U.S. Small Business Administration federal agency as a Grant Management Specialist where she worked for 4 years on various programs during the pandemic. She was on the task force assisting businesses and individuals with loans and grants to help them recover during the pandemic. Christy also worked 15 years in the banking industry, where she held several positions as a Business Banker and Banking Center Manager. There she led the charge with out of the box thinking to uncover ways to grow productions and mentoring new banking professionals. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and also received leadership training certification and disaster training and certification. Christy is originally from Alabama and has lived in Atlanta for the past 20 years.