Latest / Power Moves Media / Power Moves Ep. 10: Thomas H. Graham on Leadership, Influence & Legacy

Transcript

Power Moves Ep. 10: Thomas H. Graham on Leadership, Influence & Legacy · Power Moves Media

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Power Moves, where we talk business, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rose Johnson, and normally I'm here with my co-host Alexander Austin.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: But today we're doing things a little differently.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Today's show features our conversation with Thomas Graham, recipient of the 2026 David C.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award from the Prince George's Chamber of Commerce.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: We had an opportunity to go beyond the resume and talk about leadership, relationships, service, and some of the experiences that have shaped Thomas's career and his impact.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Also, if you're enjoying these conversations, make sure you're connected with us on social media.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Follow PowerMoves on Instagram at underscore powermovesmedia.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like to explore being a guest on the show or have an event you'd like to share with us, send us an email at info at powermoveshq.com.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let's get into this special edition of PowerMoves in our conversation with Thomas Graham.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: Our guest today has built his career that spans business, energy, entrepreneurship, athletics, civic leadership, and service.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_03: Thomas H.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Graham has spent 30 years with Pepco Holdings, rising through a number of leadership roles before concluding his career on the executive leadership team as vice president of People Strategy and Human Resources.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: After retiring from PEPCO in 2016, he founded T.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: H.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: Graham and Associates, a strategic consulting firm focused on government affairs, utility construction, supply diversity, and community relations.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: He's also served as leadership roles across numerous corporate, nonprofit, and civic boards.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: And before all of that, he was a professional soccer player and later spent 19 years coaching at Georgetown University.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_03: And most recently, the Press Georgia's Chamber of Commerce honored him as the 2026 David C.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award recipient at our Excellence in Business Awards Gala.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: But today we want to go beyond the resume and go get to know the man behind that lifetime of achievement.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: Tom, welcome, PowerMoves.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: My pleasure to be here.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Tom, and congratulations on the David C.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: I had the pleasure of meeting you in either 2023 or 2024.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so through meeting you through Prince George's Chamber of Commerce, you know, I got to learn about some of what you do, but I want to learn more about that.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I want our audience to learn the man behind the resume.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: So take us back before Pepco, before the boards, all the titles.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Who was Tom Graham growing up?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And what did you think your life was going to look like?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: So it was Tommy Graham.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: And it was a probably six to eight inch bush.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I um I grew up in Washington, D.C.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, my mother, um my single family household, parents, interesting.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: Parents um married each other, divorced, remarried each other, my sister's first wedding, um, second marriage, and then they separated when I was nine.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: So I spent a lot of time by myself and didn't have a whole lot of money.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um so my um my mother noticed a BOP in my walk.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Going to DC public schools, and she immediately took me out.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Some people attended St.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: John's.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: I was sent to St.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: John's college high school in DC to uh straighten up.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it was then that I uh uh I picked up soccer.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so there was a gentleman who saw me coming down the street one day with my cleats, because I played a little bit in elementary school and and some in high school, and he said, you know, we play up the street, you know, come join us.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I never played in the youth league.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: I went right to the men's league.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: And um as a result of that, I got hurt a lot because I was a kid playing with men.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um so ended up uh uh attending University of Tampa and I was recruited by a number of schools.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but uh they accepted me under academic probation.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: So what I later later learned is, because now I'm a trustee at that university, is that when you're accepted under academic probation, they don't expect you to graduate.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: So at that time my school was only about 2,000 students, now it's about 11,000 students.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_06: Wow.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I went there.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm just going to school, trying to get education.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: My mom made a lot of sacrifices for me to get to school.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, I straightened myself up, I got to the honor roll.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but imagine you going to a school and an academic probation, and the first week the person of the school says, We're gonna make this the Harvard of the South.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, wow.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's not what I've signed on to.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so our coach says, and it was his first year there too, and he said, We're gonna win a national championship in five years.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, Wow, I just came here to have fun.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so now I am in Harvard winning a national championship.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: So we didn't do it in five, we did it in four.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: So we were undefeated national champions.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um were you still there in five years?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was there for four and a half years because I rich hered in my second year.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: I had a very bad knee injury.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I stayed an extra semester.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: So my fourth year won national championships next year, won our first 16 games, and set some records across along the way.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, ended up being in the Hall of Fame for soccer at my university a couple times, inducted a couple times.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but went on to play for the Jacksonville team in Jacksonville, Florida.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, won the league championship my uh rookie year, and then it was time to uh kind of grow up and be responsible.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: So my mother was a little ill, and I came back home, and um they had a uh career day at Georgetown University where I ended up coaching for 19 years.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: So at career day, uh uh I was high, I was had an interview probably three days later, and then three months later they hired me.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it was in the middle of a racial discrimination suit at Pepco.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: So um I was happy to be there, kind of didn't join.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: It was a good environment, always had really good supervisors, good mentors.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um started to be promoted early every other year.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess my issue was I I wasn't promoted every year.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I really couldn't in good faith join into a class action suit on discrimination.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: My big leap was moving into operations where I was manager of design and construction.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: And my last two big projects that came through my area, um, funny enough, would be the DC Convention Center, but what else?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: National Harbor.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, wow.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: So those were my last two projects before I left, and then I I moved into Prince Georges County around 2002 or so.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I was in government affairs at that time.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: But there were two times in my career I didn't have a job.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: I just sat in the area waiting to see if they had an assignment for me.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: And the president was he would come down and check on me and said, We're gonna get you something.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: We don't want you to leave, we're gonna get you something.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Came into government affairs, and that really Prince George's County had a lot to do with my career.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_07: Okay.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Because from there it really kind of took off.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it was three years later I was appointed region president.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: Now I knew I knew that you played soccer in college.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: But I did know that you had coached for 19 years.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: I did.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_03: So that's a new one.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: No, what did what did sports teach you that translates to business and um, you know, from from your tenure playing professional sports, coaching, how did that translate into the business world where you've kind of grown your career through different avenues at Pepco?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: I would say mostly teamwork and discipline, the value of that.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you so you get leadership positions.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: I probably, so I had 10 leadership positions in the company, and then a number, you know, then other organizations I've been part of over time.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, when you first take on leadership, it's like I'm the guy.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: And what you don't appreciate is the fact that people will follow you if they respect you.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's better to have influence than it is to have power.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: If you don't have the influential people, if if the people, if you don't have the influence, the people don't respect you, they will show up for you, but they will not work hard for you.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: And that is kind of the biggest kind of lesson.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: The discipline as an athlete, you know, there's things that, you know, that I do, some people aren't willing to do as a professional athlete, you know, kind of stressing your body and testing yourself to a higher degree.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it was like a really good mix because, you know, Pepco wasn't always a fun place to be.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, when I moved into my new role, uh new executive role, you know, we were going through a very difficult period of time.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: And it was like day after day after day, you know, me in the morning, me in the afternoon, me in the evening.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: I was getting death threats.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: I had to get a security detail to go out with me.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we'd have major events that were going out, and I'd go out and they'd send me out.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: And this was kind of earlier in my career, and I was kind of doing a lot of crisis management.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I remember being out in Mount Rainier one night, waiting for a truck to come.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it was a mob of people, it was dark, they had dogs jumping at chains around me.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: Police went to the back, and I just got on the phone.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: I said, But that truck better be here in like a minute.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: What was that going through at that time?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: We had some major storms and there were some outages, and I get it.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: You know, people are, you know, they're frustrated, they're frightened.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, they went their power.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: Power means a lot.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I listened to an executive one time, and this is more of kind of on the economic development front, and he said, and he was from Africa, and he said, in my country, you know, power is economic development.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: Without that, I can't grow.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: Without that, my children don't have lights to read at night.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: So it means that much.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so I, you know, I understood that.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: I got it.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I understand the importance of kind of energy in the society.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, when you think about electricity, you don't want to think about electricity, right?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: You want to hit that switch.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: You want everything to pop on, and that's it, and that's the most you want to think about it.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but when it doesn't go on, and when you don't have air conditioning or you don't have heat, or, you know, the food in your freezer is melting, right?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: You know, these are all real issues for your family.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: I come from a family that um I'm a first generation American.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think the most valuable lesson that I learned in going back to visit where my parents are from from Nicaragua, from a little town on the coast called Bluefields.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And when we used to go, we used to go every year.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And each neighborhood had a day of the week in the evening where they did not have any electricity.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so experiencing that and then coming back and being able to flip the switch on, man, that meant something so, so different for me and for my life.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And hearing you talk about it in that way, going through those experiences when people were not able to have their electricity in the way that they're used to.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that that is so powerful.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: As a as a normalcy though, like that's a way of life.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_03: We're here, we take it for granted.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I was in um I was in South Africa a couple of years ago with uh then county executive also Brooks.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I noticed during the course of you know our meetings that the lights would flick.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: And it happened a couple of times.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: I said, Oh, they must be doing rotating blackouts.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: But this this is on a regular basis.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: So people there on a daily basis are getting power uh off and on.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: And which is nothing like we experience.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we're so blessed to be in a place we are in the United States, and sometimes we don't appreciate it until we lose it, and then we don't really know how to react to that.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: But um, I mean I can fully appreciate people's frustration during that period.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: I uh you know, and you mentioned, you know, during your tenure at Pepco that you you had ten different leadership roles.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, and you were in different facets, but and I I think you alluded to this.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_03: You said you had good leaders along the way.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_03: But what else attributed to that growth trajectory?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: That promotion every other year.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, which is impressive.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of times you there used to be a cafeteria and you go to the board and you look to see jobs that were posted on the board.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: You get to a point in your career is those jobs that you want aren't on the board, you identify a gap in the organization, and you identify yourself as the individual that can fill that gap.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: So there were positions that were organizations that were created that I had an opportunity to lead.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not always what you see before you, but it's what you what your vision is, where you see you can provide the most value and you bring that forth to management.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: If it makes sense, you know, you move forward with it.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: And and to say to that extent, from what I'm gathering, you had managers who were open to and receptive to your ideas.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: And they'll try to block you.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: No, absolutely not.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was a uh it was a wonderful kind of experience I had with NEPCO.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um I would say the the uh communication style wouldn't be acceptable today, but the intent was good.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: So from the heart it was good, from the mouth, maybe not so much.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: But then as you kind of move on and the culture of the organization changes, and I think that's a big piece of it, is that you have to have the right culture in any organization.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, you continue to kind of meet the new challenges of each day and the expectations of your customers each day.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I just had kind of great mentors and Beverly Perry, um, who is um my senior executive leader, uh David Owens, who was was the executive vice president at the Edison Electric Institute, known as um Mr.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: Energy in the field.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, and the funny thing about David and I I met him through his son, uh Kenny, who played soccer at Georgetown.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I asked the coach, I said, Who's that over there sitting in the stands?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: He said, that's uh Kenny's father, David Owens.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: David Owens, EEI, David Owens.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: And um I immediately introduced myself to David Owens.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: And he has been nothing but supportive throughout my career.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: To me, it also speaks to the value of relationships.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: And another good one.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, once you start developing kind of your leadership style and get your stride, and you know, there was a gentleman who uh wrote a book called Authentic Leadership, and he talked about, you know, there were five things that are important in leadership, but the one I really zeroed in on was the value of connected relationships and not being transactional.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we get caught up too too too much today in just being transactional.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: And not trying to really connect with a person on a different level.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'll say that.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you've talked a lot about how leadership poured into you and supported you.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: You just brought up the the uh book that really helped you look at leadership differently.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, how did you then take those lessons and help build and lead the teams that you managed and the people that you were mentoring?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: So the teams that I led, you know, it's the other thing I learned over time.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's not putting together your spreadsheet.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's the key to your success is understanding what motivates people and speaking to them in that way.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: Because not everyone responds to everything that you say.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it may be kind of money, it may be, you know, a title, it just may be just general satisfaction, but everyone's kind of built a certain way.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: So you have to be able to communicate a vision that resonates with them, that makes them want to support that.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: And they see themselves in that vision.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: Some of the times we, you know, we had goals, and you know, as a leadership team, we talked about it, said, well, you know, the problem with his goals is they don't see how they fit into getting to that point.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: And now we have to kind of break it down and say, well, we want to get here, but in order for us to get here, you know, this, this, this has to happen, and these are the things that you do.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: So now you have a clean, clear line of sight to the ultimate goal.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: So and but in tying it back to authentic leadership, you really get in to know the person and know what makes them tick.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: And then you're helping them achieve their goals within the global vision.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: But the you know, the other pieces are lead with your heart.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: So you have to have empathy in what you're doing.
• 18:41
  unknown: That's right.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Lead with purpose.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you don't do random things as a leader.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: You know, be disciplined in what you do.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and then also have your value system, uh, which is critical.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: So if if that has to be kind of the core of what's taking place, and everyone has to kind of see themselves.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we we were at a point where you had, if you're walking down the hall, you have to say, what are the values?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: What is the mission?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: So I can tell you, I've been gone 10 years, and we started that 20, 30 years ago, is provide safe, reliable electricity at a reasonable cost, safety, accountability, integrity, diversity, commitment to excellence.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: As if it were yesterday.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: But that's what we believe in.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's powerful.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And it's important for people to not just be able to recite it, they have to buy yet.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: They gotta believe it.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: I talk about my last organization, like it was almost a cult, right?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because I say it that way in jest.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: However, it really helped with the culture because we all knew, like, if you don't fit into this, you're most likely not gonna, it's not gonna work for you here.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can make mistakes, and that was more forgivable than not really understanding the mission and being able to execute at that level that was required.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so let's talk about when it's time to move on to the next chapter.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: You grew through Pepco and after 30 years you retired.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: For someone that spent such a significant part of your career there, how did you know it was time for me to go and try something now?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, a company called Exilon bought us for$6.8 billion.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: That was okay.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, so if we go way back, my father had always told me to work for the government or work for a utility, uh, work for 30 years, get your pension, keep your head down.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: There's no place in corporate America for a black man.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: And the 30-year piece kind of always stuck in my mind.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: And it just so happened that we closed that deal three months shy of 30 years.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the things I had gone to my CEO said, you know, because sh I could have left at that moment.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, I whether I'm here every day or whether I'm not, I do want to be able to come back on that June 16th and 2016, sit at a desk and stay there for the day and say, I did it.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I ended up kind of working to the end.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um but that meant a lot.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: But it's also, you know, the business is a grind.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, on a nice day, it's a grind.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: On a stormy day, it's timeless and the work just goes on.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it just wears on you.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, for me, it just got to a point and it's like like I'm ready.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: You knew.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that and then I thought, well, what's the next chapter look like?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: So I wanted to go back to coaching, and then someone told me I was too old to do that.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I didn't take that well, but it's fine.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um I chaired a foundation that built a um sports park, a Liberty Sports Park in Marlboro.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: So that was exciting.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: So that got the sports back into me.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: But I always knew I wanted to do governance.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: And so I started with um I started with O Line Bank.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: And that was probably uh one or two years short of my retirement.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: So now you're on a board for a publicly traded company.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so shortly after I moved into um Midwest Reliability Organization.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm the lead director for um the management compliance of the electric bulk transmission system in that part of the country.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: So you retired, but not really.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I retired from But you also started TH Cram and Associates.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: I did.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I would that's more consulting light, I would say.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: And there's some nice projects that come up every now and then and kind of help people kind of work through the utility company and um, you know, working on a data center project now, which I find to be interesting.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um but the the governance piece is really what I what I really wanted to focus on.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I I moved from there to Summit Utilities, which is a a gas utility.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then I went from there to join uh South Jersey Industries, which is another gas utility, where actually my CEO was the chair of the board there.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: And that's all part of a bigger fund, um, the IIF, where they have over, they're probably getting close to$60 billion in assets with 18 companies, infrastructure companies around the world.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: So um, and I've been doing that for the last few years and, you know, VSC with the lottery in DC and Maryland, and but what I enjoy the most is probably like Goodwill and the Boys and Girls Club.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: And then I've gone back to my alma mater, the University of Tampa, and so I'm um chair of athletics over there.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um I put a I put together a couple endowed scholarships uh in my mother's name um to help minority students.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we've had a lot of discussions about this whole DEI thing and you know how my scholarship has to be worded now.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: And it's I mean, to be honest with you, it's it's a problem for me.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because um, and I I believe that education should be offered and available to everyone, but in my community, we need it the most.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I say you can make any word, change anything you want to change, as long as my community is benefiting from it.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I have a couple scholarships there, and I'm starting one in my high school through my estate uh for community uh service and leadership.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm excited about those things because I think through that I feel like I made a difference during my time.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_03: And and you know, philanthropy is is entrepreneurship, right?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like you're creating opportunities and it goes back to identifying a problem and finding a solution and being the s providing the solution for the problem, so to speak, right?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: And so when you think about retirement 2016, you go work for another company or a couple of a few companies, serve on boards, you start a company, this is a lot to do.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: And now, 10 years later, right, you've you've amassed an immense amount of success in each of those categories.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_03: Did you necessarily see entrepreneurship as a as a viable path or see that what you were doing is entrepreneurial at the time?
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because some people say, Oh, I'm gonna start a business.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_03: But what you did is you created lanes and pathways that help demographics of people that look like you, and also the the industry which you have come out of.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think of it as a business though, to be honest with you.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: What I think about it is I've been fortunate in my career to do things that a lot of people have not been able to do.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: So, for instance, on the corporate board piece, as you know, last year I was a interim CEO for the American Association of Blacks and Energy.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um years ago, I moderated a panel at their national conference.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: At that panel, it's the first time we could have a panel and it was about being a corporate director, but it's the first time that we could have that panel because we didn't have enough black corporate directors.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, now I sit on three boards.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: So the diversity piece is important.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: And why do I stay there?
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: I stay there because I also want to create a pathway for someone to follow me.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_02: But I have to do that while I'm there.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: Because I don't know.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think they're all great companies and diversity is important to them.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: But I also know at the board level, you know, you you don't see a lot of people of color.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think women are doing I think women are doing better.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um not so much black women, but women are doing better gender-wise in the boardroom.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I those are opportunities that we need to continue to build on.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: And not just pass by.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I I just don't I don't look at it as like a business.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: I look at it as, you know, these are the things I need to do to make sure that these lanes stay open, even when I decide that I just don't want to do anything anymore.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's part of your DNA.
• 28:04
  unknown: Yeah.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's who you are.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: That's profound.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so to that point, you know, that you want to create those pathways so that somebody can come in after you.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, everybody, you know, executives, they can be great and do great work, but that doesn't mean they translate into a good board member.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: So what are some of those qualities that people need to look for or people need to have if they want to be on a board and be taken seriously?
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: So um at the corporate level, there are a couple of avenues that are available to you.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think you you have to build your brand.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I at this point, I've probably been on 18 boards.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like in Prince George's County, there isn't a board that I have not built.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: So um I say you have to build your brand.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: You have to know governance.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: Don't join organizations just to say that you were part of it.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: Don't say, well, I was on a board, so now I'm ready.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what'd you do?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me what you accomplished.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me what leadership roles you had.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: And tell me what took place during that time.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: So that's important so people understand that you know governance.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: So what are the primary committees?
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's it's always audit finance, right?
• 29:31
  unknown: Yeah.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's always non-gov.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I chair for the three major boards I sit on.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I chair HR Comp.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: They all call them different things, but essentially it's HR comp.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: But those are the pieces that you have to zero in on.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, are you an expert in finance?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_02: Are you an expert in governance?
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: Are you an expert in HR and comp?
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so building brands important.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: They're looking for beyond beyond us, they're looking for titles.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: So it's probably helpful if you have a C-suite title.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, other ways that you can get there.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: So when I was in the company, I supported our HR Comp Committee, you know, as uh vice president for um for human resources and people strategy.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: So the experience of that was was helpful.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: Professional organizations, you can get certifications from National Association of Corporate Directors, NACD, you know, there's board prospects, there's PDA.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: So there do you there are educational institutions that also provide that opportunity.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: But the number one thing that you have to have is a sponsor.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: So someone sent me something a little while ago, and I looked at it, and I said, Oh, well, this is interesting.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: And the the companies, I said, I don't I know those companies.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, All right, let me do my research.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I went through, I said, Now I don't know a person on any of those boards.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna make it.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm not gonna waste my time kind of going through it.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: So you do have to have a sponsor.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: I had the an amazing sponsor in um Colette Honorable.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um Colette is now one of the top senior executives at Exelon.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: But we started off at Summit together, and that kind of launched me to you stay at Summit, and then you meet the SGI, and then other opportunities come up.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: But your resume, your bio, I think, get you nominated.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: Your work get you renominated.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_02: Now that's a bar.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: That is a bar.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, just don't just because you get there doesn't mean you're gonna stay there.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh because you do get so it at um at the fund, you get elected every year now.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: Usually the terms for the boards are every three years.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but there are many cases where people they do not get re-elected.
• 31:58
  unknown: Wow.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: They don't get they don't get nominated again.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um performance hasn't been satisfactory.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: My weakest piece right now, to be kind of honest, is I stretch myself too thin.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_02: When I talked about commitment to excellence is something that you have to have, you know, I believe like when you step on the field, you have to be ready to play.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, ready to play.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if you're injured, fine.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: But once you step on the field, you're in.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: And there's no excuses of what you do.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I just do too much of something.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: And and I'm going on a board diet, to be honest with you.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: A board like that.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I used to be on the board for the chamber.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I enjoyed that.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: I was chair of the uh Maryland Chamber Board.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's like a 10-year commitment.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and the other thing, you're talking about business like philanthropy as a business.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: I have to remind people when you send me the$15,000,$10,000 contribution requests I'm not Pepco anymore.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on fixed income.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll tell you who you can call, but maybe you can't call me.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: And there's just things that like I want to focus in on that are important to me.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, the resources are finite, and I just want to do that.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I wrote a letter to myself a long time ago.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know if I've ever shared it with you, and it's kind of we were going through a whole lot of things at the company.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just trying to figure out, you know, what is it?
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'm what am I, it's I'm working 18 hours a day.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_02: We're trying to restore service as fast as possible.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I just wrote to my note to myself and I said, how will I make a difference today?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_02: I wrote it, I put it on my my wall, and each morning I came in and I I looked at that note and I tried to figure out what I can do different that I didn't do the day before that can help someone out that will make a difference in what they're going through right now.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: And to this day, um, you know, that's one of my many mornings.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: That's my first thought about what is it that I can do today to make a difference.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's profound.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: That is profound.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you have a posture of service and servitude and creating pathways and contributing back to your community.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about your service here in Prince George's County.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, that really stood out to me, the amount of organizations that you have served on in the community, including the Economic Development Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, uh, Leadership Prince George's, and the Prince George's County Board of Licensed Commissioners, and more and more things with uh Angela Alselbrook, and the county's COVID Forward Task Force for Economic Recovery.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: So you've had a lot of opportunities to serve in all those places.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Why has investing your time and leadership here in Prince George's County remained important to you?
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's where I live.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um I like the people, you know, from the time I came here in 2002.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um I just I just loved being here and I like the quality of life that I experience now.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, the more I became exposed to it, the more I wanted to do.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and to be honest, when you're part of a big corporation, you're assigned to things.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: And because you're trying to give a presence to your corporation to that community that you're in.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I probably took that a step further.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: And once the more I got involved, like the more I liked it.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um I probably spent too much time thinking now.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm an overthinker.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a and unfortunately, Alex, you've experienced it.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and a lot of people in the county have experienced it where, you know, now that I'm retired, I can express my opinion about anything.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um but, you know, what it is, it's not being critical.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's me making people accountable and it's saying, I know you can do better.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_02: I need you to do better for this community to do better.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: So I um I and I got exposed to so much when I was with the company, you know, to see that no one, not everyone lives the life I live, right?
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: And there's people that are less fortunate.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_02: And the things I was doing with Boys and Girls Club, there was a young man that I mentored.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_02: I created a program for him for maybe five activities, but I took him to the commander's game and he met the chief of police and he wanted to be a chief uh police officer, and then he ended up being in the cadet program.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, we went to he's a soccer player.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I know the coaching university in Maryland.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: So we went to the University of Maryland, and after the before the game, we went, you got to meet the coach, got a soccer ball, you got a shirt, you got all those things.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: But my point is that I have access to things that a lot of people don't have access to.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I want to expose them to that.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_02: But but since I've been exposed to everything and I see there's still opportunities for me to provide value, I still want to do it.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 37:31
  unknown: Yeah.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_03: And and Tommy, you know, your your career is is impressive, right?
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_03: And you've been in some very significant rooms that have impacted business and economic development.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, this is something we always talk about from a chamber's perspective.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: Why is it important for business leaders to have a voice in those rooms?
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_03: Because and and there are times we have conversations where some business leaders just feel like it's not worth their time.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's not making them any money.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: So, but why is it so important for business, businesses specifically, to be in the room and have a voice?
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_03: So who speaks for you?
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: If if you don't show up in that moment, and I will I will always say and think something I learned a long time ago, is you always have to understand the moment and what it requires.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_02: There are issues that cop uh that pop up now, they are significant business issues that impact your bottom line.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you need to show up.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because if you don't show up, people who accept that as you're accepting up.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: So the community show up.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, one thing that kind of bothers me, um, as you can tell, a lot of things bother me.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things that bothers me is when I hear our officials say, Well, we're gonna do what the community wants.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_02: Well, guess what?
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: Business is part of the community.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_02: Business creates jobs, right?
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: We have the payrolls.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of these people in the evening they go home.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_02: In the daytime, they're at a business, right?
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: So they need that business to be successful for them to live the type of life that they want to live.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: So a community is not just residents.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's business to, but business, you know, it has to participate.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we have what 10,000, over 10,000 businesses.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: There's a large business community here.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't really match kind of the membership in the Chamber of Commerce.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and maybe some people say, well, you know, if I'm not part of that, you know, they're gonna do it anyway.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, there's a big difference between five people being in the council chambers and a hundred people being in the council chambers that are all talking about the importance of business in their county.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 40:08
  unknown: That's right.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and that's such a powerful message, you know, when I go to hearings or any place that I go to, and I'm a member of a lot of different organizations.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: But for people to get up, uh I'm a member of this organization, and this is why I'm here to speak on that behalf.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't hear it just from one person, you hear it from 10, from 15, from 30 people that showed up to advocate for the needs of the organization and the businesses that make it up, so, so powerful.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so that brings us to where we are now, you know, understanding the moment is what has earned you the David C.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_00: Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award that the Prince George's Chamber of Commerce has honored you with.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think many people understand that David C.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: Harrington was at one point, he was the former.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_03: He's my predecessor for 10 years.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I I think during the uh interview, um, we were talking about the chamber.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_03: There's no way that you could think about the chamber and not think about David Harrington, right?
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_03: Because of what he did.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_03: But but even before the chamber, who he was for our community, and just you know, it goes back to Howard University, right?
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_03: David and I are part of the same paternity, so you know I would say that.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_03: So just you know, being in this role and and and having to have met the man, met his family.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um you are you are responsible for the building blocks.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm sure uh David had the same feeling for people that came before him.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: He was just an example of what it looks like to put it into action.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_03: And I think when you when you think about Tom, you know, you have David Hanting, Tom Graham, very putting it into action.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_03: And your career is is very reflective of that.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so all the work that you've done in the county and now receiving this award.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure you you had to work with David at some point, what what does it mean to you to be receiving it?
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_02: So not only did I I worked together with David at on many levels.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_02: So um I worked together with David uh just after he left Bladensburg as mayor.
• 42:39
  unknown: Oh wow.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_02: Then he moved on to the council.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_02: And remember, I just come into government affairs.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, David and others would say, you know, Tom, why are you always here?
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because we don't have any issues.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_02: I want you to know me before we do have an issue.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the first time I show up, it's when something's wrong.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: So that gets to the whole kind of relationship piece.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_02: So fast forward, David goes on, and now David's a senator.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: So my funny story is when he's a senator, somehow David's gotten he's gotten a hold of R10K.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_02: And David wants to recite to me the revenues and the profits of Pepco each chance he gets.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Senator, we're not a nonprofit.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_02: You want the utility that serves a nation's capital to be financially sound.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: You just want that.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_07: So fast forward.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_02: Announcement comes out.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: David Harrington, president CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, sent in a no profit is now the voice of the president.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: I picked my phone off so fast.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: And be honest, I I I didn't know how that was gonna go.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: And David and I we talked about it.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: I said, so what's it feel to be like?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: What's it like here on the dark side?
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we laughed about it, and we were partners throughout his whole time at the chamber.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_02: And it would always make me smile to see him up there saying, voice of voice of business, voice of business, and think about our other conversations about how come you make so much?
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_01: How come you make so much?
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I mean, just a kind of tremendous leader, compassionate, um, you know, kind of a deep feeling about what was taking place in the county.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, we had kind of reverse careers because he started public sector, went to private.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: I started private, and then I went to public with some of the commissions.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, what's the common thread?
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_02: The common thread is we believe in Prince George's County.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_02: We want Prince George's County to succeed.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so now I'm receiving an award as an A.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I even used to buy my um my cakes and pastries from his wife.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I mean, I mean it's a lot.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_02: It it really does.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_02: And my friends, you know, they would say, You're so cool about everything.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_02: Does this even mean anything to you?
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely, it does mean something too.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a big deal.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: So um there's um a lot of people coming in town.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you get uh for Saturday, and I never, you know, you you do work, but you're not I'm not taking receipts.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not kind of, I say, you know, you owe me this, you know, you owe me that.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: As I told you, I'm not kind of transactional.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_02: But as people have started to leak out, leak out, who's coming to town from Florida, yeah, different parts of the country to be here on Saturday night.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean it's a lot.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_03: What are you most proud of that is not listed on your resume?
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_03: I like my dog a lot.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: My dog and I have was actually my sister's dog, but we have a great time together.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, my kids.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, my kids are in Canada.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we've never been together.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um their mom, Debbie, was my college sweetheart.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, they've always lived there.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_02: We always have a very kind of close relationship, and it's, you know, you made a comment earlier about the most you've seen me last.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_02: So if you ask my kids, they'll say I'm a clown.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, we've made up this kind of holidays Olympics in the house where we play all these different sports and we have trophies and we have press conferences, and I dress up as uh my family comes over and I dress up as a bizarre Santa Claus with everything, nothing matches.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um but if if what you don't see is like how much I care about things.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so a lot of times you see just a a very kind of stoic face.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_06: Yes.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I get that.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: I get it.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, but like I'm embracing it, right?
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm accepting it.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I I laugh with some of my friends, you know, I'm a bit aloof too.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, when so many people are asking you for so many things all the time, it's like you just can't open up all the time to everybody.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I need to understand what's going on before I commit.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_02: But like at my core I care a lot.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and it shows.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_03: It shows.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, with with all the wounds you've been in, when you're no longer in the room and your name comes up, what do you hope people will see will say about the way you've lived?
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I I would hope they would say that um, one, I care.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_02: Two, you know, um, I held people accountable, but I also held myself accountable.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, there's kind of mistakes you make along the way and you accept them and you move on.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we always talk about and you know, coaching is like next play, you know.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know that I try to treat you fairly.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um as a friend, I'm very loyal uh to the detriment of other people who are on the other side of that.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm very loyal to my friends.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um and you know, I I mentioned before, it's like when I'm in, I'm in.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm not, oh, you know, we can do this.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_02: When I'm in, I'm in.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you have to stay in too, because you brought me in.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then the you know, the sports by me, I'm very competitive.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I am in, I I want to win.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_02: And my gal friends know that.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be telling.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: You go out there with time, you better know what you're doing.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_01: There you know that.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we're at the point in the show, my favorite point in the show, we call it the power move.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so we ask every guest about this.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a point in your life where throughout the journey, there was something that made a major impact in the trajectory.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: What is your power move?
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_02: Let me tell you, when you're in the um when you're in this business, there are a lot of things that happen.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_02: And there could be moves weekly.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um the big move for me was was moving from um, I was in marketing and I came manager, design, and construction.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_02: And everyone was shocked because I'm not an engineer.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_02: And trust me, you don't want me to do any electrical hookups for you.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_02: But you manage a process.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_02: So that's uh that was really a big move for me.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um obviously become Regent President was big, and then moving to the executive leadership team to run human resources for 4,700 employees was very big.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_02: But there is something.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_02: And that saw it earlier.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_02: And this actually, I'm not sure if it was a power move, but it means a lot to me.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's a lot for me to have kept it for 23 years and to have framed it and keep it in my office and look at it often.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_02: But it's from 2003, and it's a um it's a letter to me from Jacqueline Brown, who's the Chief Administrative Officer from Prince George's County.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_02: And this is right after Hurricane Isabel and said, I'd like to personally thank you for your outstanding dedication and service to our county during Hurricane Isabel.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_02: Your commitment to steadfast steadfastness saved lives, infrastructure, and encouraged faith and confidence in the government.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_02: You're a true professional in public service, and you need to know we acknowledge and appreciate you.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_02: So that continued me to kind of push and push.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_02: And two years later, I was appointed Regent President.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I always said that when like when you're growing when you're kind of growing up in the company, there's a lot of things you see.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_02: And then when you get in positions that you can actually make changes for the better, yeah.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's it means a lot to you.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_02: So I I'm not saying that's a power move.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna say it's very motivational to me, but it kind of pushed me forward to do more things.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I just I enjoy kind of being here.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_02: I enjoy um supporting the Chamber of Commerce.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think the Chamber of Commerce is is important.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_02: More companies need to be engaged uh with the Chamber in order for, you know, for our ecosystem to survive and thrive.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_02: So I appreciate the opportunity of being here today.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_00: This has been an amazing conversation.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_00: Who would have thought from mom standing that one little bop in your walk instead of sending you off?
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_00: And now now look where you have making so much impact.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say Prince Judges County putting the bop back in your walk.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm about to get my knee replaced.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_01: There'll be no bopping for a walk.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you're late.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to leave folks with the way that they can connect with you?
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_01: Call me connect with me on LinkedIn.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm very, very available on LinkedIn.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_02: It comes up as Thomas Graham, probably South Jersey Industries, yeah, one of my utilities.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, I mean, I'm you know, I spend a lot of time now, you know, I spend a lot of time reading and you know, for my for my board work, but but also, you know, I think people find value in my experiences on on the governance side, um, on the executive leadership side.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so I've always been kind of open to you know, open to helping people.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_02: But as Alex has experience, people also like to come to my Super Bowl parties.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_06: I don't want to say it.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_02: Over the years, as I've gotten bigger homes, the parties have gotten bigger.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_02: But it's like these are like my people.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_02: And when I've needed them, they've shown up for me.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a way of saying thank you too.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_03: Tom, thank you again for your leadership, mentorship.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_03: I appreciate everything you've done for the county, for me as a leader.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_03: And um thank you for joining us on Power Move, man.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's it's a true honor to be with you here.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_03: Ah, it's great.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_03: We have more work to do though.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we do.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we do.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_03: Good.