He established the Jim Kennedy Scholarship Fund to support children of Cox employees. The Fund annually awards ten scholarships valued at up to $40,000 each. Kennedy has also remained closely connected to his alma mater, the University of Denver. He has contributed to the university by serving as a member of DU's Board of Trustees. In 2008, Kennedy gave the University of Denver a ten-million-dollar gift to create the James C. Kennedy Institute for Educational Success in the Morgridge College of Education. The purpose of this institute is to identify innovative and cost-effective means for promoting and sustaining the educational success of vulnerable children. As a nature enthusiast, Kennedy once served as Chairman of the Colorado Division of Wildlife Commission. He currently serves on the board of the PATH Foundation, previously served on the boards of Ducks Unlimited and Atlanta Committee for Progress, and is also a former president of Wetlands America Trust, Inc. In 2008, Kennedy also established the James C. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation in the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries of the College of Forest Resources at Mississippi State University. Kennedy's gift sustains in perpetuity the teaching, research, and outreach program in waterfowl and wetlands ecology and conservation at MSU. In 2013, Tallahatchie General Hospital, with funding from Jim Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises, announced plans to build a Wellness Center in Charleston, Mississippi. The Center opened in 2016 and the Mississippi House of Representatives passed a resolution in support of the facility. In 2014, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced a land exchange in Mississippi with Kennedy to conserve wildlife habitats and provide outdoor recreation for public access. He also gave $3.3 million to Clemson University to establish and endow the James C. Kennedy Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation Center, headquartered at the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Coastal Ecology and Forest Science in Georgetown and Nemours Wildlife Foundation in Beaufort. In 2016, he gave $3.1M to create a University Endowed Chair in Wetlands and Waterfowl Conservation at Colorado State University. Wetlands America Trust presented Kennedy with its 2014 National Blue-winged Teal Award for giving his time, talent and treasure for the conservation of natural resources. He was a featured speaker at Fortune's Brainstorm Green where he spoke on the importance of sustainability. He encouraged sustainability through the company's participation in the American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge. Kennedy was diagnosed