Who Makes It Happen

Executive Director Bio:
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Christopher Bradshaw was exposed to a variety of cultures and socio-economic backgrounds early in life. From elementary school through high school, he  would arrive at  a prestigious private school, where he was a scholarship student and  opportunities were endless and hope was plentiful. A vivid contrast to  his after school experiences —- which  included time spent in  and around the underserved communities surrounding Tennessee State University, where his mother worked as a research  administrator.

The values and virtues of his middle-class, single-parent upbringing were foundational relative to who he is and  where he is today—he became  very curious about  the  opposite worlds in which he was perched and thus, began his examination of  the why and why nots. His daily exploration of socio-economic issues took place in the vivid context of everyday life….rather than in a think-tank or a text book.

With encouragement from his mother, Christopher volunteered with a number of social service agencies, including the Nashville  Metro Action Commission, an agency which ,  as a part of its mission, was dedicated to the delivery of services such as GED tutoring, school lunches, and assistance to individuals that had secured housing after being homeless. One of  life changing  experiences included his work as a volunteer with the Middle Tennessee chapter of 100 Black Men; it was this   volunteer experience that led Chritopher to discover the joy of working with youth. These early experiences were invaluable in that they transformed his sense of social equity and reoriented his thoughts towards social justice.

At Howard University, as a Political Science major,  he worked with and led  Amnesty International for four years. His activities with Amnesty led him through some of his richest life experiences, and these would eventually form the basis of the spiritual and philosophical perspective he brougth to Dreaming Out Loud, Inc.