Kansas City-based NAIA extends contract of organization president and CEO Jim Carr

The Kansas City-based NAIA has extended president and CEO Jim Carr’s contract through 2025.

The NAIA, headquartered downtown, holds its longstanding Division I collegiate men’s basketball tournament at KC’s Municipal Auditorium each March.

“The NAIA Council of Presidents Executive Committee is pleased that Jim has agreed to extend his employment contract for five more years,” Dr. Arvid Johnson, NAIA Council of Presidents Chair and University of St. Francis president, said in the release. “These are challenging times for collegiate athletics and we are fortunate to have Jim at the helm as we move forward with strategies that position the NAIA for continued success.”

Since Carr took over as CEO in 2006, the NAIA has stabilized membership and increased total revenue by 160 percent, according to a news release from the organization. The NAIA has also also grown from 25 to 55 full-time employees.

“The landscape of collegiate athletics is shifting rapidly and the NAIA is poised to adapt and execute change that will continue to prioritize the student-athlete experience,” Carr said in the organization’s news release. “The NAIA currently has several groundbreaking initiatives underway and I’m excited that I’ll be able to see them through to completion.”

Carr joined the NAIA in July 1998 as managing director and general counsel and was promoted to CEO in 2000.