James McKelvey is Block's co-founder and has served as a member of its board of directors since July 2009. Since March 2025, Mr. McKelvey has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Fastrials, Inc., a clinical trial management company, of which he is also the co-founder. In addition, he has served in various positions at Mira Smart Conferencing, Inc., a digital conferencing company, since March 2012.
Mr. McKelvey currently serves on the board of directors of Emerson Electric Co. and previously served as Chair of the St. Louis Federal Reserve from January 2022 to December 2023. He also serves on the boards of directors of a number of privately held companies.
Mr. McKelvey holds a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis. He was selected to serve on Block's board of directors because of the perspective and experience he brings as one of the company's founders.