Nitrogen-doped carbon (N-C) catalysts can potentially offer high ORR (oxygen reduction reaction) electrocatalytic activity comparable to Pt/C catalysts. Here, we establish a correlation between N-species (pyridinic-N and graphitic-N) with high ORR activity and a key role for Fe in their preparation. N-C catalysts are prepared from okara (a cheap, nitrogen-rich, biomass precursor) using a facile synthesis method with inclusion of FeCl3 at different steps of synthesis. Mesoporous N-C catalyst is produced that had ORR activity comparable to that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. High ORR-activity N-C results from the presence of FeCl3 at a specific step during synthesis. Detailed investigation by XPS reveals that increased levels of pyridinic-N and graphitic-N arose from pyridinic-N-oxide conversion in the presence of Fe. We conclude that transforming inert N species to active N species underlies the increase in active catalytic sites on the carbon surface and offers a means to improve N-C catalyst performance. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.