Candidate for
Council Member; City of Oakland; Council District 3

Gregory Hodge is an organizational development and community building consultant. He works with a range of groups from small non-profits and foundations to public agencies, particularly school districts. He formerly served as the Chief Executive Officer for California Tomorrow, an Oakland based organization that is dedicated to building a strong multiracial and multicultural society that embraces diversity as our greatest asset.

California Tomorrow works on a variety of community building issues + social, educational and economic + by conducting action research, policy advocacy and capacity building trainings. In addition, Gregory was elected to his second term as a member of the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education in March 2004.

He previously served as the Executive Director of Safe Passages: the Oakland Child Health and Safety Initiative, an effort designed to improve and promote the health and safety of youth in the City of Oakland, California through community involvement and systems reform. Safe Passages is a collaborative effort of the City of Oakland, Oakland Unified School District, Alameda County, and community residents.

Prior to working for Safe Passages, Hodge was the executive director of the Urban Strategies Council where he also served as the director of a city-wide Youth Development Initiative, managed the Freedom Schools program and worked as the regional representative of the Black Community Crusade for Children, an effort coordinated nationally by the Children's Defense Fund. In 1996, he helped recruit, train and facilitate a 42-member community building team as part of Oakland's Empowerment Zone/Enhanced Enterprise Community program.

Hodge has also worked as an attorney in private practice handling a variety of civil litigation matters. His involvements include work with African American youth as a teacher and mentor; board member and minister at Wo'se Community; drummer with Bantaba Dance Ensemble; and member of the national Annenberg School District Reform Task Force. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University and a law degree from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California.

He is married and is the father of four children.