Bio for GREGORY C. SCOTT,
President & CEO, New Directions for Veterans
Gregory C. Scott serves as President and CEO of New Directions for Veterans (NDVets), an industry leader in veterans services. Mr. Scott heads up a dynamic team at this rapidly growing nonprofit organization, measuring success in terms of individual life transformation and impact on the community. Since Mr. Scott assumed his role in 2011, NDVets has expanded well beyond its initial transitional housing program to now encompass both permanent supportive housing and housing stability for veterans and their families (through homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing).
A passionate visionary, Mr. Scott focuses on producing solutions to the challenging social issues affecting disenfranchised individuals and their families in the areas of veteran services, homelessness, education, workforce development, healthcare, mental health, low-income housing, and youth development. His nonprofit and private sector executive leadership and management experience illustrate that he is a true agent of social change.
Under Mr. Scott’s leadership, NDVets was honored in 2012 by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden as part of Joining Forces, a comprehensive national initiative to mobilize all sectors of society to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned. Mr. Scott was also honored by the National Black MBA Association and is the recipient of the Ford Unsung Hero Award, the Weingart Center Association Community Hero Award, and the J.U.G.S. 2015 Diamond Award.
With a master’s degree in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University, Mr. Scott has devoted himself to engaging and empowering communities. His service has included membership on the executive committee of the Los Angeles Center of Community Economic Development and the Board of Directors for both the Bresee Foundation and the Orange County YMCA Community Services Branch.
Prior to his appointment at NDVets, Mr. Scott served as President and CEO of the Weingart Center Association, Regional Vice President of West Coast Operations for Sylvan Learning Systems, Executive Director of the Neighborhood Youth Association, Executive Director of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation of Orange County, and National Director for YouthBuild USA.
Mr. Scott’s diversity and depth of experience combined with his strategic and hope-inspiring world view have made him a thought leader in the areas of homeless intervention and veteran services. He is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post and has appeared on The Today Show and frequently in Los Angeles and national media.
Mr. Scott was born and raised in a public housing project in Paterson, N.J., with a loving mother, a father who was an Army Veteran in the Korean War before passing away in 2007, and an older brother. He was no stranger to seeing the impact of drugs and alcohol, gang violence, lack of available social services, and poverty had on a community. In fact, Mr. Scott often states he really didn’t realize he was even poor until he became an adult, and engaged with people outside of his community. This was an amazing realization that then put him on track for dedicating his life to working in low-income and disenfranchised communities.