James Wilde

James DeWitt Wilde V (born September 24, 1970) is an American sportsman, explorer and philanthropist living in Munich, Germany. On October 19, 2010, Wilde climbed Kosciuzsko in Australia, completing his quest to climb the seven summits, becoming number 216 on the all-time Kosciuszko list.
Currently, James is working on the restructuring project of a major telecommunications operator in Angola, originally as the Head of the Finance Team and now the Executive Director of Strategy.
Apart from his native language, English, James speaks German, Portuguese, French and Russian. James has an MBA in International Business and Finance and Bachelor degrees in Journalism/Marketing as well as Business Administration. (according to his publisher, Outskirts Press, http://outskirtspress.com/moving_mountains/)
James founded the charity Global H2O in 2009, helping to establish a means to bringing clean drinking water and developmental progress to the Northern provinces of worn torn Uganda. Since its inception, James has worked tirelessly to help the needy in his free time and most notably has completed the book, MOVING MOUNTAINS, documenting this amazing journey.
Philanthropy
Wilde founded the Non-Profit Global H2O (together with stepfather David Simons and personal friend Chris Wooten), a 501C3 organisation focused on bringing clean water to those in need. The company has done the bulk of its charitable work in Uganda, having completed 20 major projects in the Kitgum region.
Wilde recruited several notable managers to join the founding team and build an all volunteer network. Michael Sosnowy (Group CFO), David Humphrey (Head of Germany), Sefan Hoeh (CFO of Germany), Wicky Bisanz (Head of Austria), Rob Shaw (Head of the UK) and Stefanus van der Merwe (Group COO).
The team has developed a network of corporate donors including Modry Design Studio, Sage Business Solutions, Great Outdoor Provision Company, Tantris Restaurant, St. Leonhards-Vertriebs GmbH & Co. KG, Richard Anton KG, b.telligent, STI Consulting, BCD Travel, Tesla Motors, Enso and Insyen. Among other non-corporate donors includes The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem (Dublin, Ireland).
Since its inception, Global H2O has funded projects which have brought a lifelong supply of clean drinking water to over 50,000 people. http://www.globalh2o.org/about-us/
Expeditions
Wilde suggests that his early successes were thanks to the support of his manager Karsten Lereuth and sponsorship and PR from British Telecom and specifically their then top-manager Ben Verwaayen. It was Lereuth's agreement with Wilde to allow for a sabbatical and Verwaayen's agreement to sponsor Wilde that enabled him to reach for higher goals- something that he says he will never forget. "Supporting people's dreams is important in every aspect of life. For without dreams, there is no progress or growth—science, business, and personal growth stagnates if we do not support people's dreams. Our achievements are only limited by the boundaries of our dreams.
During the 2005 attempt on Everest, his team was fraught with trouble from the very beginning due to strikes by the Maoist Party in Nepal, a terrorist attack on his team members (http://www.everestnews.com/everest2005/everestalex2005u04112005.htm), and finally the death of his teammate and climbing colleague Marko Lihteneker.
His increased reservation, health issues and weather condition caused Wilde to rethink his summit attempt as he sat in Camp II on the North Side of Everest at 7900 meters.
Wilde finally summitted Everest on May 23, 2010; the last major challenge in his seven summits quest. He finished with Kosciuszko on October 19, 2010 together with his Everest climbing partner, Steve Berry.
After a two-year break from life on expeditions, James is currently planning north pole and south pole expeditions to raise awareness for the water crisis, while achieving the Explorers Grand Slam and the Three Poles Challenge.
Wilde's seven summits
*Aconcagua, 12/01/2006
*Elbrus, 30/04/2003
*Everest, 23/05/2010
*Kilimanjaro, 04/11/2002
*Kosciuszko, 19/10/2010
*McKinley, 02/07/2004
*Vinson, 02/01/2009
http://www.7summits-club.com/members_of_club/all/member_186/

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