EXPERIENCE
Greg is the CEO of Upwardly Global, a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a senior advisor to the Harvard Project on Workforce, a former President of one of the largest colleges in America, a lawyer, and a professor. He has chaired 10 boards. Greg has dedicated his life to uplifting others by helping to design and implement innovative programs and initiatives at the nexus of global economic competitiveness, workforce development, economic policy, and higher education, elevating municipalities, businesses, and individuals alike.
GLOBAL ECONOMIC THOUGHT LEADER
Greg brings a rare convergence of legal expertise, policy leadership, nonprofit experience, and deep research on workforce readiness, artificial intelligence, and economic mobility, making him one of the most compelling voices on American competitiveness today. His work explores how the United States can address its most pressing talent shortages by aligning domestic workforce gaps with the global talent already within our borders. He has long argued that immigration is critical to the U.S. economy’s ability to fulfill workforce gaps, create jobs, and fuel growth.
As a Senior Advisor to the Harvard Project on Workforce, a cross-university collaboration between Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Graduate School of Education, focused on the future of education, workforce development, and the changing labor market. Through this work, Haile’s contributions to research and strategy help leaders across business, education, and public policy better prepare for the realities of a rapidly evolving economy.
Colleges and universities remain among America’s most powerful engines of workforce development. These institutions collectively prepare millions of students for high-demand industries and affordable pathways to upskilling and reskilling.
As President of Broward College, one of the largest colleges in America, Greg created a transformational access model college, Broward UP. Unlike typical higher education institutions that ask the students facing the greatest challenges to come to them, Greg transformed Broward College to ensure that college, its faculty, its advisors, and its technology went to the communities with the highest unemployment rates and lowest postsecondary attainment rates. Even more, he created a transformational justice program that provided both victims and first-time offenders of nonviolent crimes the chance to train for a new career at no cost with the full cooperation of the public defender's office, the state attorney’s office, and the courts. Further, he obtained the largest grant in college history ($30 million) and the largest gift in history ($30 million).
HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION
“Adult learners who successfully complete a 12- to 18-month certificate program through Broward UP realize, on average, a 44% increase in earnings over their current income.”
South Florida PBS interview with Gregory Haile on Broward UP
In the Margin: Diverse Issues in Higher
Education Podcast
Message to the Community: Managing in the Age of COVID-19
Workforce Training
Gregory Haile with high school students dual enrolled at Broward College’s Emil Buehler Aviation Institute (Broward College/Downtown Photo)
Greg believes that workforce development is inseparable from national security. To remain a globally competitive nation, it is imperative to optimize the full potential of every person who calls it home.
To that end, Greg has vast experience forging strong relationships to develop workforce training programs that meet the desires and demands of both employees and employers. As CEO of Upwardly Global, Haile oversees an award-winning workforce development program focused on ensuring that work-authorized immigrants are prepared for the U.S. workforce and gain access to the jobs they are qualified to do. Many work-authorized immigrants aren’t familiar with the soft skills valued in the American job market, and many employers can’t see past biases to a jobseeker’s talents and skills. This creates a disconnect that leads to, for example, doctors working in survival jobs, even as we’re experiencing a shortage of doctors in many parts of the country. Upwardly Global’s programs address this disconnect from every angle, working with immigrant jobseekers, with employers and their HR teams, and with other institutions that support newcomers to build towards a future where everyone has the chance to realize their full potential.
In early 2023, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo appointed Greg to the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council’s Talent for Growth Task Force, which provided recommendations on how to expand innovative workforce training initiatives and programs as the AI Revolution evolved. He was one of six Americans appointed to the Task Force.
In 2023, in response to a chronic shortage of truck drivers, Greg Haile secured $2.6 million in funding from the Florida Job Growth Grant to establish a new four-week workforce training program in commercial truck driving and licensing.
Gregory Haile Cooks with James Beard Award-WINNING Chef Michelle Bernstein
Hotel Business Roundtable: how to benefit from the untapped labor market
Economic Policy
Greg's advocacy is rooted in the belief that workforce inclusion is not an option; it is the key solution for the U.S. to remain resilient and globally competitive. As a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, his work focuses on the intersection of three key elements of American national security: economic mobility, engaging low-income and marginalized communities to support the nation’s workforce needs, and artificial intelligence. As Board Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Haile oversees the management of the Bank’s operations and provides insights to help inform monetary policy deliberations.
Greg's role as CEO of Upwardly Global allows him to integrate the strategic perspectives of both the U.S. economy at large and the corporate sector, highlighting the synergy between economic policy, educational advancement, and workforce development in driving societal progress.
As Deputy Chair of the Atlanta Fed, Greg Haile helps people to understand the role of the Fed in shaping monetary policy and how that impacts the American economy. Here, at an event for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, for which he is Immediate Past Board Chair, he speaks with Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic on economic mobility.
Greg wears many hats but he always remains focused on the synergy between economic policy and educational advancement.
Gregory Haile discusses maximum employment with Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Social Impact
Greg is the CEO of Upwardly Global, the leading national nonprofit dedicated to helping immigrants with professional credentials restart their careers in the U.S. In this role, Greg drives forward the vision that inclusion drives U.S. innovation and progress. When immigrants contribute their talent and expertise to the right jobs, the results lift the U.S. economy, strengthen communities, and create generational impact.
Whether knocking on the doors of residents of the most challenged communities just to let them know that he is there to provide support, serving on the board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, helping to build homes for Habitat for Humanity, or setting up free education and job training programs in low-income neighborhoods, Greg strongly believes that proximity of opportunity is critical to manifesting our nation’s core values.
Over two decades, Greg has volunteered with dozens of nonprofit organizations, including serving as Board Chair of nonprofits like Free the Slaves, Poetry in America, the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Alliance, Promise of Progress, and on the boards of United Way of Broward County, the Everglades Foundation, and Achieving the Dream.