Dr. James N. Hassell, born in NYC, was raised as the son of two preachers. After graduating as the President of Student Government from the Newburgh Free Academy in 1990, he showed leadership from a young age. Dr. Hassell matriculated the halls of higher learning at Howard University and Marist College, and then went on to complete his Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree in Religious and Theological Studies at Faith Seminary in 2005 and 2009, consecutively, and in 2020 completed in his Doctorate in Religion at faith Seminary with a specialization in Transformative Leadership.
In December 1992 James was joined in holy matrimony to the lovely and gifted Alonda S. Barnhill and he is the proud father of four children, Ralon, Kevin, Kayla and Kaira, and proud Pop-Pop of 7. He was employed as a branch manager for Beneficial Finance Corp. for 14 years where he was a licensed insurance and real estate agent as well as notary public. He was also employed as the Executive Assistant to Pastor Jesse V. Bottoms, his mentor and teacher for 12 years, at the Beulah Baptist Church of Poughkeepsie, NY.
He is presently President and CEO of Kingdom Neighborhood Development Corp, and the Pastor and Founder of the Kingdom Christian Cultural Center, one of Yonkers foremost worship centers for Christian culture. He serves as overseer for KCCC Newburgh, KCCC Syracuse and Grace Temple in Kumasi Ghana. He has travelled extensively as a missionary for Uganda, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Zambia, Haiti, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Flint, Michigan. He represents the Nepperhan Community Center as a local job developer and internationally as a liaison for church and business operations abroad.
Pastor Hassell serves and has served on several local boards in the city of Yonkers including: the one billion dollar municipal project of the City of Yonkers Joint School Rehabilitation Committee, Homelessness Task Force, City of Yonkers Police Commissioner, Community Relations Committee, Yonkers Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Coalition, Mayor's African American Advisory Board.
Pastor Hassell is a sought after speaker on leadership, team building, men's conferences and church apologetics. Pastor Hassell has authored several books including “My Merchandise is Good”, "Taking The Wheel In A Moving Car", "Worship Leader's Coach" and "What To Do In Case Of A Worship Service". He has been honored as the Grand Marshall of the African American Heritage Festival in 2008, Person of the Year by the Westchester County National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Club Inc. in 2006, Outstanding Innovator and Mentor to Youth by the Women's Club of Nepperhan in 2006, Outstanding Community Service Award from the Nubian Brothers Association in 2007, Sister to Sister International honoree in 2006, Youth Theatre Interactions honoree in 2009 and the NAACP Champion for Justice Award in 2010, to name a few.
