Editor’s note: Winners of the Community Fabric Award from Craven Community College will be featured in the Sun Journal.

This recipient’s story is one that defines how perseverance and passion despite life’s challenges and obstacles can elevate you to achieve success you may never have imagined possible.

Greg Singleton, Director of Community Workforce Readiness and Project Manager of the Craven-Pamlico Re-Entry Council, received the 2022 Community Fabric Award for Leadership in Education.

Singleton said that although he walked past the wall lined with former winners such as Ricky Meadows and Ethel Sampson, it was like looking at Mount Rushmore and he never imagined he would be lifted to such a high level. He never saw himself there.

Singleton joined the human resources development department at Craven Community College in 2014. Since joining the staff, he started the Job Readiness Boot Camp in 2017, which provided training and employment support to more than 500 participants since its creation.

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The boot camp supports the unemployed, underemployed and formerly incarcerated by teaching soft skills such as resume writing, interviewing and interpersonal communication in an effort to optimize their employability.

As project leader of the Craven-Pamlico Re-Entry Council, Singleton was instrumental in securing a $250,000 grant to support the council’s efforts. He was also able to have the Re-Entry Council placed under the college’s auspices and has since become the model for other schools in the state’s Community College System.

Given that he is involved in justice himself, the Re-Entry Council is a program that Singleton said he is passionate about. He said he believed everyone deserved a second chance and that education was key to providing that opportunity.

Singleton read on a framed artwork in his study: “Even in the midst of our worst struggles, our ancestors knew that part of our progression in growth begins with a good education.”

“I’ve always known how important education is,” he said.

He graduated from Fayetteville State University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 1992.

Of the award, Singleton said it touched him the most when Craven Community College president Ray Staats announced the award he would receive was for his leadership in education.

“That’s when everything had the biggest impact on me. That’s when I became full of emotions because education is key, it’s a game-changer .”

The Craven Community College Foundation will celebrate Singleton and two other Community Fabric Award winners, Jonathan Segal and Andrew MacLaren, at the 12th Annual Community Fabric Awards during a 1 p.m. noon luncheon, April 26 at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center.

The Community Fabric Award is given to individuals and leaders in business and education who exemplify excellence, as evidenced by outstanding initiative, impact of service and inspiration of others. The award recognizes, rewards and encourages activities that have a significant impact on meeting the needs of local communities.

Along with Singleton, Jonathan Segal will receive the Individual Leadership Award and Andrew MacLaren of BSH Home Appliances will receive the Corporate Leadership Award at this year’s ceremony.

To sponsor the foundation or purchase a ticket to the event, visit the Craven CC website.

“The fact that I am the first African American to receive the Educational Leadership Award also means a lot,” Singleton said. “More important than the award itself and all the beautiful things it represents is that I was selected by the community, a very selective committee decided and chose me.”

Singleton said he felt his work was a bit of a ministry, sharing that God urged him to do more, to take his ministry to other places that don’t have what is. available here in Craven County.

“I have to be obedient and be willing to take this stick of education and how I use it to help restore lives in other places in North Carolina that don’t yet know how to do it this way,” Singleton said. “There are other places that need a champion for a second chance.”

After more than eight years at Craven Community College, Singleton tendered his resignation on March 29. He accepted a position as Dean of Programs, Workforce, and Continuing Education at Central Carolina Community College in Sanford.

Singleton said he loves the people of Craven County and appreciates all the support and love given to him over the past eight years. He said he is thrilled with his new position and the opportunity to continue to be a leader in the field of education by sharing his love, knowledge and desire for others to achieve their dreams.