Kay Coles James (born June 1, 1949) is an American public official who served as the director for the United States Office of Personnel Management under George W.
Bush from 2001 to 2005.
Previous to the OPM appointment, she served as Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources under then-Governor George Allen and was the dean of Regent University's government school.
She is currently a member of the NASA Advisory Council.
She is the president and founder of the Gloucester Institute, a leadership training center for young African Americans.
On December 19, 2017, she was named president of the Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative think tank.
She is the first African-American woman to hold that position.