James (Jim) Wayne, LCSW, BCD

Backstory

By Sue Coyle

Jim Wayne knew from the outset of his career that he wanted to incorporate both macro and clinical social work. “The beauty of social work,” he says, “is that it really understands helping the individual in a social context. I had social context in the legislature, but the complement to that is the individual work.’’

Wayne planned from the start to become a therapist while also maintaining a part-time legislative career. Kentucky has a part-time citizen legislature. He focused first on his clinical work. “I had to establish myself” before running for office, he says.

After earning his master’s degree at Smith College, Wayne worked at a mental health center. He soon realized, however, that he wanted to strike out on his own. In 1985, Wayne founded Wayne Corporation, which provides Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services throughout the region. He also later founded the Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy, in 2015.

While Wayne found, and still finds, the EAP work fulfilling, he also prioritized working with underserved communities. “The most profound experience of my career has always been to work with the very poor. What I did eventually was to set up programs in one of the very poor neighborhoods of Louisville,” he says. “Even now, I go down once a week to meet with the young folks and help.”

In 1991, Wayne realized the second part of his plan when he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, serving District 35. His goal as a representative was to bring “a social work perspective. I would try as best I could to stand up and work for the folks in Kentucky that were really suffering,” he says. He did just that as an integral advocate for Kentucky’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and in his work to help relocate those impacted by the expansion of the Louisville airport, for example.

In 2019, Wayne retired from the legislature, though he remains active in the community. He continues to serve as president of Wayne Corporation and started a racial justice group in the wake of Breonna Taylor’s murder by Louisville police officers in 2020.

Outside of social work, Wayne earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction and has published one novel, “The Unfinished Man,” with more to come. In 2024, he was selected as an NASW Social Work Pioneer.® Above all, Wayne is proud to be a social worker. “During a very difficult time in our nation’s history,” he notes, “we have a lot to give.”