Jodi Solomon Speakers: Hezekiah Griggs

Jodi Solomon Speakers Bureau
325 Huntington Ave, Suite 112
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Ph: 617.266.3450

Hezekiah Griggs

Young Self-Made Media Entrepreneur

Hezekiah Griggs has journeyed from a 3 year old African American living in poverty to being the premier media innovator in the hip hop generation. He learned about business and media in the hardened inner cities in Northern New Jersey at the age of 9 when he was paid $15 for a videotape of a church service he taped. That experience led Griggs to start his first company just a few months later. After building a successful video production company, Griggs became concerned with the lack of vehicles for teens to express their voices and created TRUE (Teens Reaching for a Unified Era) magazine. Realizing that teens often lacked the financial means to purchase products, such as magazines, Griggs was successful in making the magazine free by attracting dozen's of corporate advertisers.

In 2003 Griggs started HG3 Media, which allowed him to be at the helm of a vast umbrella corporation which operated six different magazines and various multi-media projects.

HG3 Media is getting ready to launch its next innovative platform, H360 magazine. H360 is 360 degrees on hip hop, intending to present news of the hip hop world to the hip hop community in a way that is new and innovative. This venture is slated to begin in November 2008.

Hezekiah's accomplishments have been acknowledged through letters of support from the former U.S President William Jefferson Clinton, United States Senator Frank Lautenberg, the North Jersey Media Group and Valley National Bank. Griggs has received over 50 honors and acknowledgments including the prestigious NAACP and Optimist's International Youth Leadership Award.

Hezekiah has accomplished more than most at his age and still manages to give back to others. His heart goes out to the youth in our society, where he believes more wrong is surrounding them than right. In order to change these circumstances Hezekiah has set up a series of projects to make a difference with these youth. Amongst these projects is Hip Hop on Wall Street, an organization geared towards empowering high school and college students politically and economically. One of the first projects of Hip Hop on Wall Street is the "Ear Card." A unique debit card allowing individuals to gain exclusive reward points and membership savings, additionally; he is penning his first book Poverty to Prosperity. The book discusses his challenging upbringing and provides 7 steps to overcome difficult obstacles.

On the nonprofit side Griggs recently became chairman of L.E.A.D., a program that is committed to working with youth and young adults to have them rise beyond their potential. L.E.A.D's mission statement is to "develop youth and young adults into becoming social entrepreneurs, leading community activists, and strong critical thinkers in an effort to positively influence political and social change." Hezekiah is described by his peers as a "Business Prodigy" and "Voice of Change."