Jim Keady

James W. Keady (born October 4, 1971) is an American activist, educator, and politician.

Jim Keady
Born	(1971-10-04) October 4, 1971 Neptune Township, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Alma mater	St. John's University
Occupations	Activist * Educator * Politician
Employer	Lighthouse Tavern
Known for	Nike sweatshops investigation
Democratic candidate for New Jersey's 4th Congressional District
Election date Primary: June 5, 2018 General: November 6, 2018
Opponents	Democratic Primary Opponents Mike Keeling Josh Welle Republican Primary Chris Smith Felicia Stoler As of 13 March 2018
Incumbent	Chris Smith (R)
Website	2018 Campaign Website
Democratic nominee for New Jersey’s 30th Legislative District of the New Jersey General Assembly
Election date November 3, 2015
Opponents	Sean T. Kean (R) David P. Rible (R) Lorna Phillipson (D) Hank Schroeder
Incumbent	Sean T. Kean (R) David P. Rible (R)

Early life and education

Keady was born in Neptune Township, NJ and grew up in Belmar, NJ. He attended the Christian Brothers Academy all-boys college preparatory school in Middletown Township, NJ. He later went on to receive a Master's degree in Pastoral Theology at St. John's University.

Activism

Nike Sweatshops

In 1998, Keady was conducting research about Nike's business practices at St. John's University, the school signed a $3.5 million deal with Nike, forcing all athletes and coaches to endorse Nike. Keady publicly refused to support Nike and was forced to resign his position as soccer coach.

After resigning, Keady continued to research the conditions in Nike's Sweatshops. He traveled to Indonesia and for a month lived among the Nike factory workers, surviving on the $1.25 per day wage the workers earn. Keady's efforts were recognized on many media outlets, including CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, HBO Sports, ESPN, the ABC, the BBC, NPR, WBAI, as well as in the NY Times, Newsday, Sports Illustrated, the Daily News, Daily Kos and many other local radio programs and print outlets. He offers an educational workshops called "Beyond the Swoosh" where he shares his experiences living with Nike's factory workers and his decade long effort to end sweatshop abuses.

After a decade of activism, Indonesian Nike supplier PT Nikomas Gemiland repaid 4437 production workers for 600,000 hours of forced unpaid labor.

In September 2018, Nike and Keady were in the news again over a controversial ad campaign with Colin Kaepernick, famed football player and social justice protester. Keady was asked to voice his views regarding Nike's stance on social justice in the United States while the company has a history of social justice controversies globally.

Hurricane Sandy

In 2012, Keady volunteered to lead recovery efforts in his hometown of Belmar, NJ, after Hurricane Sandy. Two years later, Governor Chris Christie visited the town to publicize state recovery efforts. Keady interrupted the press conference to voice his complaints about the pace of recovery. Christie told him to “sit down and shut up.”

The encounter gained national media attention. Keady appeared on several news networks explaining of the $1.1 billion in federal funding allocated to the program, state data showed roughly $530 million has been awarded and more than $222 million has been disbursed.

After this experience, Mr. Keady ran for Congress in the 4th District against Republican incumbent Chris Smith.

Syrian Refugee Crisis

In 2015, Keady spent 10 days in Lesbos, Greece to help refugees from war-torn Middle Eastern countries find new lives in the west. Keady said he went to Greece when he saw rising anti-Muslim and anti-refugee sentiment in the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks. "It’s not just a political issue; these are people," said Keady. "These are people that just want a better life. They left areas that have been ravaged by war."

Hurricane Maria

In 2017, after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Keady made multiple humanitarian trips to provide aid to the people of the island.

Legislative career

Asbury Park City Council

In 2005, Keady served on the Asbury Park City Council. He ran with two other city residents but he was the only one on his team to be elected. While on council, Keady served as co-chair of the council's subcommittee on affordable housing; the Asbury Works advisory board; the Springwood Avenue redevelopment advisory committee; the subcommittee on homelessness; and the parking commission. Keady resigned six months before his four-year term was up, due to family reasons.

NJ State Assembly

In 2015, Keady ran for state General Assembly in New Jersey's 30th Legislative District, citing the lack of leadership, accountability and transparency following Hurricane Sandy recovery as his motivation to run. Keady received endorsement of Rage Against the Machine guitarist and social activist Tom Morello.

Keady finished in 3rd place behind the two Republican Incumbents in the election.

US Congress

In 2016, the DCCC recruited Keady to run for the United States House of Representatives in New Jersey's 3rd Congressional district. He lost the Democratic primary to Frederick John Lavergne.

In February 2017, Keady announced his run for Congress in his home New Jersey's 4th Congressional District. Keady received an endorsement from Progressive Democrats of America, Our Revolution New Jersey Volunteers and DHU: Demand Universal Healthcare, among others. He lost the primary to Joshua Welle, who lost the general election to Republican incumbent Chris Smith.

In November 2019, Keady announced a third run for Congress for the same seat. On January 17, 2020, he sent an email to supporters announcing his withdrawal from the Primary after being asked to drop out by multiple Democratic Party organizations and leaders.