One half of the Public Relations power-team that is LaForce & Stevens, James LaForce and his partner Leslie Stevens have made a name for themselves as purveyors of luxury and lifestyle brands around the world. From Perry Ellis to OMEGA watches, LaForce directs a wide range of communications programs across the agency’s roster. Mentored by legendary fashion publicist Elanor Lambert (a woman who is often credited as having put American fashion on the global map), James has learned the ins and outs of the business from the very best. After graduating from Columbia University with a B.A in English Literature and writing, LaForce, a native of Wisconsin went on to work at a number of high-profile PR agencies throughout New York before launching LaForce & Stevens fifteen years ago. He and his partner of nearly twenty years, writer Stephen Henderson reside in Manhattan and enjoy spending weekends taking trips up to Long Island. He is an avid member of New York’s LGBT Committee at the New York Public Library; an organization which works towards cataloguing and digitalizing integral archives of gay and lesbian social history.