Leadership

Founder/CEO

JAMES FRENCH

James French has been fortunate to be present at the forefront of several waves of global change in various fields during his career. This has given him the opportunity to witness the interconnectedness of histories and observe as people, living in starkly different contexts, create opportunities for themselves.

Joining Citigroup, where he was assigned to West Africa, French immersed himself in mastering modern banking’s technical aspects, spanning treasury operations, corporate finance, and capital markets. Working closely with governments, businesses, families, and innovators, French identified colonial-era legal and regulatory systems as obstacles to the financial sector’s responsiveness to local and regional needs. This recognition spurred him to pioneer new financial instruments tailored for French-speaking countries across West Africa, from Senegal to Gabon.

Venturing next to the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region as a senior advisor to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance, French was assigned to Algeria as it emerged from civil war. French’s advisory practice included formulating a national strategy to leverage Algeria’s foreign reserves for economic growth, innovating monetary policy tools, and contributing to a capital markets development strategy. Operating in the aftermath of civil unrest, French navigated unique challenges to provide crucial guidance during Algeria’s recovery.

French was appointed by the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) as an independent director of Africa’s largest multinational microfinance bank, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. This role deepened his understanding of microfinance; simultaneously, it positioned him at the forefront of the emerging fintech revolution, contributing to the birth of innovative tools for advancing financial inclusion.

After returning to the US, French reconnected with his family history in Virginia. He applied his governance, financial, and entrepreneurial expertise to the nonprofit world as the founding chair of the Montpelier Descendants Committee (MDC) in 2019. Concurrently, he was elected to the board of The Montpelier Foundation (TMF). Under French’s leadership, the MDC and TMF completed a transformative four-year journey, achieving structural parity in Spring 2022 as TMF became the first American institution to implement equal power-sharing with descendants. Following this milestone, French was elected as the first Chair of TMF from a descendant background, completing his term in Spring 2023 and stepping down.

Writing on finance and economics in Africa and structural parity, French’s work has appeared in several publications, including the Washington Post and the New York Times. He has presented at prestigious venues such as the African Development Bank’s Africa Investment Forum, the Africa Fintech Summit, Harvard University, University of Arkansas, the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, and the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Awards include the Munich RE Financially Inclusive Fintech Ideas Campaign and the NAACP President Award for the Culpeper region. 

French holds degrees in English from Boston University and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. In addition to BLS, he is still active in developing cutting-edge fintech solutions to expand financial inclusion around the world.

Board of Directors

VIOLA LLEWELLYN

Viola Llewellyn, CEO of The Tulle BoxTM, reshapes global leadership training for women. As co-founder of Ovamba Solutions, Inc., she secured over $140MM for African businesses and played a pivotal role in founding a life insurance investment fund with $500MM AUM. With a tech sales background and leadership roles at Unisys Corporation and KPMG Consulting, Viola pioneers for women and minorities in tech. Recognized by prestigious forums like the World Economic Forum, she’s also an author and TED speaker. Viola champions African tech through roles at The Africa Professional Services Group and Generosity Global. Splitting her time between Africa and the USA, Viola’s roots in Cameroon fuel her passion, along with her love for Batman.