Published
February 24th, 2021
Category
Videos
Gregory Hodge, JD 鈥85,聽 always knew that he wanted to serve others.
His childhood in Pine Bluff, Arkansas straddled the eras of Jim Crow and desegregation. Throughout, he watched his parents, both public school teachers, serve others in everything they did.
鈥淪traight out of college, I chose GGU because the聽听迟谤补颈苍别诲听聽lawyers. My interest was聽聽issues, particularly for African-American communities. The notion of what can I do to serve my community was always there,鈥 explained Greg.
At the GGU School of Law, Greg benefited from the strong trial practice program which expertly prepared him to try cases. His entering class included diverse second-career students of different ages and racial backgrounds. The richness of those relationships with professors and classmates have benefited him throughout his career.
Since GGU, Greg has worked as an attorney, nonprofit administrator, school board president, community leader, minister, musician, strategist, facilitator and coach, to name a few of his roles. Greg opened a private law practice and after practicing civil litigation for several years, woke up one morning and realized he wanted to change direction.
鈥淢y career arc was less than linear,鈥 he joked. 鈥淪ome people pick a school, a job, a spouse. I鈥檓 definitely not that person. The through line for me was servant leadership, which I got from my parents.鈥
From there, Greg鈥檚 career led him to roles that allowed him to directly advocate for the Black community.
鈥淟ots of folks didn鈥檛 have the privilege to go to law school right out of college. I asked myself, am I using this opportunity in a way that the community that raised me would recognize?鈥 reflected Greg.
Today, Greg鈥檚 work focuses around two areas: the conditions and aspirations of boys of color, and consulting around making racial equity actionable in organizations. He鈥檚 the executive director of the聽Executive Alliance for Boys and Men of Color聽and the chief network officer of the聽. As an organizational development consultant with聽, Greg works with groups including nonprofits, foundations, and public school districts. His consulting takes him around the country to facilitate racial equity workshops and coaching to support local communities grappling with these issues. In all of his work, his goal is to spark transformative change.
鈥淩ight now I work with a lot of people all over the country鈥攂lack, brown, white, otherwise鈥攁nd I really feel like I was well prepared for what I鈥檓 doing now because of my law school background and practicing law the way I did,鈥 said Greg.
Greg considers facilitation to be his primary skill.
鈥淔rom a facilitative place, I help people have the conversations they need to have,鈥 explained Greg. 鈥淚f people can have hard conversations without feeling threatened, without feeling what they are saying is not valuable is what I try to do. People invite me into difficult rooms to have difficult conversations and there鈥檚 something I鈥檝e learned over the years about how to create those possibilities for transformation.鈥
This past year, Greg has been asked to facilitate a conversation with the African-American community about the community response to COVID-19, and also works with leaders around messaging social distancing and vaccines in ways that support people of color to make informed decisions. This work is especially important in the wake of George Floyd鈥檚 death and the civil unrest sparked by racial inequities.
It鈥檚 extraordinary,鈥 said Greg, 鈥渢he way the country has now had to face some of this. There鈥檚 a part of us as a country that hasn鈥檛 come to terms with the 300 years of slavery and what happened to the African-American community.鈥
Greg believes that Black History Month affords an important opportunity to go deeper into people鈥檚 stories and learn something new that colors more texture into the聽.
鈥淚 think Black History Month is really important in that way, but I would want my new grandchild to not believe that February is the only month in the year when she鈥檚 supposed to learn about her history,鈥 said Greg. 鈥淚 want to impart that she鈥檚 supposed to know her history and the history of Indigenous Peoples, the Latinx community, the history of the Irish and Italians, the history of everybody as much as you can in the country to understand where the economic disparity and mistrust began.鈥
Topic
Alumni Spotlight
Tags
Alumni, Event, Law School, Video, Black History Month, Social Justice
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