Jim Towey was legal counsel and close advisor to Mother Teresa of Calcutta for 12 years and did the first reading at her Mass of Canonization in St. Peter’s Square. He has been pro bono legal counsel to the Missionaries of Charity for 38 years. He previously headed the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under George W. Bush for four years and served on his senior staff.

His career also spans the presidency of two Catholic colleges for thirteen years, a seven-year stint as a US Senate staffer, and the leadership of Florida’s 40,000-employee health and human services agency. In 1996, with Mother Teresa’s encouragement, he founded the nonprofit advocacy organization Aging with Dignity and later created the Five Wishes advance directive, which has sold over 44 million copies. He currently serves as the organization’s CEO.