Jim Kennedy , age 9 , with his mother Barbara Cox
( From left ) Barbara Cox , Anne Cox Chambers ( Jim Kennedy ’ s aunt ) and Jim at the groundbreaking of the Cox Atlanta campus in 2000
Lessons from His Mother Making Things Better
Besides the scholarships to children of Cox employees and donations from the Foundation , Jim is personally generous to others — and many times helps anonymously .
Add all this up , and it may make you wonder why he gives so much . Why does he help so many people he doesn ’ t know and support things he ’ s not involved with ? Debbie knows one of the reasons : “ His mom taught him well . She was like that , and I think he learned a lot about how to treat people from her .”
That includes how he views people at Cox . “ I know it ’ s always said , ‘ Our employees are our greatest asset ,’ but the truth is they mean more to him than anything ,” Debbie continued . “ Honestly , he worries all the time if the employees have enough or , ‘ Are we doing enough for the employees ?’ So many of the ideas for things we provide originally came from him . Of course , he doesn ’ t want to take credit for it , but I know he was the one that started them because I heard it come from him .”
When talking about the people at Cox , Jim once said , “ If you work for Cox , you ’ re part of the Cox family ,” so he treats people as such . Jim also believes that a big part of working for Cox is about being a good human being . But , for him , it goes beyond that . Whether he ’ s donating to help the community or contributing to a sustainability project , he ’ s always trying to help make things better . If you ’ re wondering the reason , simply put : It ’ s just the right thing to do .
The good news is that Jim ’ s generosity isn ’ t slowing down any time soon . As chairman of the James M . Cox Foundation , he will continue to lead how we support different causes . Donations like the $ 25 million grant to Emory University to transform the patient-centered care model , and the recent $ 30 million donation to help complete the Atlanta BeltLine , are examples of how his passion for helping others and our communities continues to this day .