James Alexandroff established the Perivoli Foundation, a UK Charity, in 2019. The Foundation has an Africa focus.

The Perivoli Foundation supports the Perivoli Schools Trust and the Perivoli Africa Research Centre at the University of Bristol.

The Perivoli Schools Trust, established in 2012, focuses on enhancing the quality of nursery school education in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has trained over 40,000 nursery school teachers across six countries, with an ultimate target of 200,000 across eight countries by 2035.

The Perivoli Africa Research Centre (PARC) at the University of Bristol, established in 2019, aims to foster more balanced research partnerships between universities in the UK and Africa.

James advises the Trustees of Perivoli Innovations, which invests in early-stage businesses, with a focus on addressing climate change, health, social inclusion and productivity enhancement. Profits go to funding the Perivoli Foundation.

James co-founded Arisaig Partners in 1996, an emerging market fund management company headquartered in Singapore. Responsibility for the firm was passed on to the next generation of employees in 2017. He remains a director of the firm.

He gifted his ownership of Arisaig Partners in 2000 to the Perivoli Trust, which has funded the Perivoli entities described above.

James oversees Perivoli from his home office in Somerset and is a frequent visitor to Africa. He was awarded an OBE for his work on education in Africa in January 2023 and was made an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Bristol in 2026.