Fred Grandy

Fred Grandy has lived a life most people can only fantasize about. As an actor he starred on the wildly successful TV series The Love Boat, which not only obliged him to visit the world's most romantic ports of call, but actually paid him to do it. Yet at the height of his show business success he abandoned Hollywood, returned to his native Iowa and launched a campaign for Congress, which no one, including his immediate family, thought he could win. He not only won, he began an eight year career in the U.S. House of Representatives which established him as one of the most respected, best spoken, and well-liked members of Congress on either sides of the political aisle. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities, Fred Grandy is an inspirational presenter who delivers poignant, funny, and pertinent messages about state of the political landscape and the importance of giving back and community involvement.

A Man of Goodwill. His expertise stretched from crop insurance to health insurance, from welfare reform to campaign finance reform. Both his colleagues in Congress and his constituency back home earmarked Grandy for a long and bright political career. Then, frustrated by partisan backbiting, gridlock, and the skyrocketing cost of getting re-elected, Grandy exited Congress in January of 1995 and two weeks later took over one of our nation's largest charitable organizations, Goodwill Industries, as the president and chief executive officer. There he spent the next five years rebuilding the reputation of the well liked, but little understood, chain of thrift stores and rehab centers into America's most successful workforce development network. During his tenure as CEO, Goodwill's annual revenues nearly doubled to $1.6 billion and customers (who now include everyone from people with mental and physical disabilities to moms coming off welfare and at-risk kids) jumped from 130,000 to 373,000 per year.

NonProfit Leadership. During his last three years with Goodwill, Grandy was named one of the country's most influential nonprofit leaders by The Non Profit Times. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard with a masters degree in Shakespearean studies from The George Washington University, he has been a visiting professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs, as well as a consultant to a number of nonprofit organizations. He now makes his living in talk radio as the host of the popular Grandy & Andy Morning Show on 630 WMAL in Washington, DC, and is the co-host of RLTV's Daily Cafe which strongly focuses on news and current affairs, and includes viewer participation.