​Bridges To Life

Jim Buffington is Chief Operating Officer for Bridges To Life. Before coming to BTL, Jim had a 30-year business career in financial/legal services and aerospace.

When Jim was 12 years old, his mother was found murdered in the back seat of her car. A year later, his father and two other men were arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for the crime. Jim traveled a long road of pain and betrayal that could have led to a life of bitterness, but instead he chose another path: one of healing and forgiveness. 

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Jim began volunteering with BTL in 2004 and joined the staff in 2016. He also volunteers with Bill Glass Prison Ministry, Prison Entrepreneurship Program, is a camp counselor for Royal Family Kids, and serves as a Board Member for Brighter Tomorrows, Trinity Kids, Inc., and Lillian Smith Family Violence Foundation. Jim received the Dallas Cowboys Community Quarterback Award for Volunteer Service in 2007, and the Texas Governor’s Criminal Justice Carol S. Vance Volunteer of the Year Service Award in 2008. Most recently, he received the 2019 Texas Governor’s Criminal Justice Volunteer Service Pathfinder Award for his contributions to the welfare of crime victims.

 

Jim and his wife, Marilyn, an elementary school teacher, live in Dallas/Fort Worth and have one son, Bryce, who is a financial analyst and also a Bridges To Life volunteer.