Team Member Spotlight : Grady Wright

Director of Operations & Business development

Grady J. Wright has two decades of experience in small and start-up business development.

Grady is a GALLUP Certified Strengths Coach, Strategist, and Professional Development, expert. Grady joined the University of the District of Columbia in 2018 and is best known for delivering sound Strengths-based training workshops and one-on-one coaching experiences for university faculty, staff, and students.

Grady currently serves as the Chairperson for the UDC Strengths Initiative Staff Taskforce—a university-wide training experience focused on educating university staff on how to discover, develop and use their uniqueness for higher productivity and more reliable team outcomes. Grady also served as the Executive Director of the Capital Builders Program—an entrepreneurship program designed for Washington, D.C. students to start college by starting a business venture.

Before joining UDC, Grady worked as an Operations Manager for Enterprise Holdings, a Fortune 500 transportation company. At Enterprise, Grady was responsible for new employee development, peer-to-peer coaching, and creating and maintaining a talent progression metric.

Before Enterprise Grady spent eight years serving in State and Local government roles, he served as a trusted policy advisor to a Florida House member at the state level. Grady later served as a Public Policy Analyst at the municipal level for the Miami-Dade Broad of County Commissioners.

In each of these roles, Grady was responsible for conducting multi-goal policy analysis that included cost-benefit analysis, community engagement examinations, and urban development program evaluations, among other duties.

Grady J. Wright completed his graduate work at the prestigious University of the District of Columbia where he focused on Non-Profit Management and Leadership.

Grady J. Wright received his double Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration degree from The Historic Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens, Florida.