Much of Greg's life has been dedicated to his Civic Engagement & Philanthropic efforts. After graduating college, he became an educator. Two months later, in response to an incident he witnessed in his community, he founded The Brunch Bunch Mentoring Program. He coordinated & attended the weekly outings for 243 consecutive weeks. More than 700 diverse students & adult volunteers joined him along the way. At 25, he expanded those efforts & launched The 11-10-02 Foundation. Named after his 30th birthday & his belief that young people can make a difference, the organization has funded many educational grants & scholarships around the country. Since the organization's inception in 1998, Greg has waived his salary in full, every year. Driven by his close bond with his Grandma, Greg has devoted a great deal of time to helping older adults as well. His other civic efforts have revolved around issues like dogs, autism, literacy & cancer. Greg's interest in volunteerism & philanthropy traces back to his time as a student. In grade school, he participated in a reading program for kids that raised funds to support those impacted by Multiple Sclerosis - sparking a lifelong interest in Reading, Volunteerism & Philanthropy. As a teen, he was named Student Chairman of Community Service at his college & completed an internship on Capitol Hill. For his efforts, Greg has received honors like the Jefferson Award for Public Service. He (and the Foundation) have both been named America's Daily Points of Light. His efforts have been featured by media like NonProfit Times, Volunteer Leadership & Good Morning America.. SCROLL DOWN FOR NEXT PARAGRAPH
On the professional side, Greg has served as Scholar-in-Residence for different programs (ie a civic engagement program in South Africa). He has spoken or participated in other ways at civic-themed events for students of different ages (i.e. an elementary school in Maryland had him do readings of The Milkshake Man - the upcoming picture book edition of The First Thirty - as part of their kindness initiative, a middle school in Washington had him speak at their annual Service Day, a high school in Georgia had him take part in their character development lecture series, a university in Canada had him keynote their event where they honor people for making a difference. In some cases, students (ie photo, left) have participated in civic-related art or essay projects in conjunction with his visit. SCROLL DOWN FOR NEXT PARAGRAPH
Greg also has spoken at civic-related events for educators, volunteers, philanthropic leaders & business executives (i.e. Conference on NonProfit Excellence, National Service-Learning Conference, annual event for United Way supporters in Canada, Mayors' annual Youth First Breakfast in Minnesota). In some instances, he has been one of multiple speakers at an event (i.e. at a day long event, Greg & Nobel Peace Prize honoree Elie Wiesel were the two guest speakers; at a middle school, they had Greg & Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams appear in alternating weeks; at a nonpartisan event recognizing people for service & volunteerism, Michelle Obama and Greg were guest speakers - and organizers also ordered copies of the book based on Greg's story for 200 attendees). The books (& related posters) have been used internally &/or externally by many schools (elementary, middle, high, college & graduate), civic & philanthropic organizations (i.e. KU Endowment, Boston Cares, Arbor Hospice, Sand Springs Community Services Inc,, Youth Volunteer Corps of Kansas City) &/or individual chapters of such organizations (ie AmeriCorps). In some cases, individual civic leaders have utilized the books in meaningful ways (i.e. Toni Moore, CEO of Hospitality House of Tulsa, personally ordered dozens of copies of the student edition of the book for kids in Oklahoma).