Di James and Karie James have been producing meaningful gifts and virtues based educational resources since 2011. Together with lots of generous and talented friends, professionals and dedicated virtues advocates they are pursuing their vision that every child has access to virtues education,
Their hope is that these children will develop authentic self esteem based on character development, and reach their full human potential.
Di and Karie believe this is how we can ensure a more compassionate, kind, unified, peaceful and fair future for our society.
Di James has been an educator, social activist, artist, and virtues facilitator, and has worked in community development as well as corporate cultural change
Di has had a long career in educational settings, including infants and primary schools with the NSW Education Department. She was the Founding Director of the Family Action Centre at the University of Newcastle, NSW Australia, where she was a passionate advocate for the support of children and families and the development of strong communities within the context of a civil society.
For many years Di worked in collaboration with exceptional US facilitator and change advocate, Jack Guillebeaux, creating transformational change in government and university departments, community organisations and the corporate world.
Di is now Director of Embrace Virtues where she is full-filling her life’s vision of developing creative resources that enable children to reach their full potential through character education. She gets to live out her great joy of working with talented and committed individuals to design meaningful gifts and educational resources and delivering training packages that support the vision of Embrace Virtues – that every child have access to character education through virtues.
Di is the mother of three grown children, the grandmother of four growing children and the long time devoted wife of her husband, Bryson.
Karie is currently working in Nairobi, Kenya with Not for Profit organisation called Sanergy. Sanergy designs and produces toilet systems that are installed in the slum areas of Nairobi. These systems collect human waste which is then transported to a treatment plant to be converted into compost and sold to farmers. The toilet systems offer entrepreneurial opportunities to slum residents as well as preventing human waste from entering the waterways and continuing to be a health hazard.
Karie is fulfilling her lifelong desire to make a positive difference in the world and to contribute her skills where it can potentially make the biggest difference.
Karie continues to provide valuable long distance support to Embrace Virtues.
Marilyn Anderson comes from a strong business background
having owned her own shoe boutique businesses.
She is one of our Embrace Virtues Home Based Entrepreneurs.
Marilyn is a passionate advocate of virtues education having used the Sound of Virtues CD and the Virtues Cards in her volunteering capacities helping children in formal school environments as well as informal family settings.
She has a strong commitment to harmonious family life with her husband of 51 years, two adult children, five grandchildren and three great grand children.
Marilyn applies her infectious enthusiasm, unshakable vision, tireless networking capacity and enormous energy to create a future where children have virtues strongly integrated into their education. She is a motivational force that inspires everyone in her path.