Jim Bender is the Executive Director of Wisconsin Independent Charter School Advocates.

Bender operates as a policy consultant, registered lobbyist and media advisor for a small group of strategic clients. With an emphasis on education reform, Bender supports an array of issues in his consulting.

Bender was President of School Choice Wisconsin from 2011 through 2020. As the registered lobbyist for the organization, he was the main contact on education reform policy for elected officials and the media. Bender was also a member of the Design Team for the Wisconsin statewide school report card.

Prior to that, Bender worked for Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald in the State Assembly as for six years as both chief of staff and key contact for the Capitol Press Corps. Bender’s policy work focused on the state budget, education and the three-tier alcoholic beverage system in Wisconsin.

After competing as a two-sport athlete in the Big Ten, Bender ran a small media firm that worked on corporate communications and education programs. Bender spent a year in southern Africa, producing a video documentary on volunteer teachers after Namibia switched their medium of education from Afrikaans to English.

Bender has served on numerous non-profit boards in southeastern Wisconsin over the past 20 years.