BOOKS: Greg Forbes Siegman is the real-life person whose life serves as the basis for The First Thirty (Jillip Naysinthe Paxson).  The book tells the story of a young person's efforts to make a difference, and the thirty lessons learned from the people, places and things he encounters along the way.  In March 2007, The First Thirty was honored at the NSD Leadership Conference in New York as Multicultural Relations Book of the Year. The book, as well as its companion workbook A Place To Sit  (Catheryne Izeklow Rozelle) are used by a wide variety of middle schools, high schools, community colleges, colleges, universities, athletic teams, conferences, nonprofit organizations and companies around North America.   Recent examples include: a prominent nonprofit organization ordering copies for its Board of Directors and top supporters; a university in the South ordering copies for students attending its summer entrepreneurship program; a tourism bureau in the Midwest doing a staff-wide reading; a women's book club in New York doing a group reading; a bank in Canada ordering copies for local kids; an organization in Minnesota ordering copies for each of the teens they are honoring at an upcoming banquet, a leading corporation in the senior industry ordering copies for some executives, and a well-known university on the East Coast incorporating the book and workbook into some of its New Student programming.

EVENTS: These days, Greg speaks at schools (middle school through graduate school), companies, nonprofit organizations, conferences and other events around North America.  In some instances, he has been invited to speak in conjunction with well-known figures such as Elie Wiesel (Nobel Peace Prize Honoree and author of Night), Ron Rubin (Chairman of the Board, The Republic of Tea), and John Sculley (former CEO of Apple & Pepsi).  Recent examples include: keynoting an annual event for hundreds of donors to a major charity in Canada,  addressing faculty and administrative leaders at a well-known university in New York, speaking at assemblies for middle school and high school students, talking to a college basketball team, guest lecturing New Student classes at an East Coast university, speaking at an event for grandparents, and keynoting an event for women business leaders.

ART:    The collection of Greg's portraits - known as My Sleepless Nights - features historical, contemporary and cinematic figures who have impacted others such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Michael J. Fox, Shirley Chisolm, Harriet Tubman, and Rocky Balboa. Art World News called the collection a 'tribute to tolerance and diversity'.  To date, Greg has never accepted an offer to sell any of the portraits nor any prints of them.  Greg's other collection - known as The Art of Nothing - involves seemingly worthless items which he has turned into art.  On select occasions, Greg has donated one of the pieces from the latter collection to be auctioned off for charity. Parts of the two collections have been on display in places like California, New York, Chicago, near St. Louis and Canada.   

CIVIC:  Greg's first civic efforts took place when he was in grade school -- to help fight a disease through an annual Read-a-Thon.  Much of Greg's post-collegiate civic and philanthropic efforts can be traced back to what is sometimes called the 'Milkshake Moment'.  In March 1997, Greg witnessed two black students treated poorly by a white customer when they sat down in a restaurant to get some milkshakes. Determined to turn what he perceived to be a moment of racial intolerance into something positive, Greg returned with ten people of different cultures and backgrounds to have some milkshakes and a meal.  In the process, he launched the Brunch Bunch.  Each weekend, for the next 243 consecutive weekends, he coordinated and hosted brunches for up to 25 people (students and adult mentors) of different races, cultures and backgrounds.   More than 700 people from five different continents attended at least one of the brunches.  

WRITING: From time to time, Greg has also worked for the media -- writing guest columns, feature stories and biographical profiles  for a variety of newspapers, magazines and academic publications around North America.  The topics of the guest columns have ranged from the impact of labels and stereotypes, to the wisdom of grandparents, to how to talk to students about the ramifications of 9-11, to the internal strength of those who deal with physical obstacles, to the importance of making the most of your time in college.   The feature stories and biographical profiles have included stories and/or profiles on various leaders and interesting figures in fields such as Academics, Art History, Athletics, Business, Entertainment, Hotels/Restaurants, Law, Local Politics (ie a Mayor), International Politics (an Ambassador from another country), and Philanthropy.

FILM:   The godson of a movie theater projectionist, Greg has always loved films and continues to work on his first one.  On the night of his thirtieth birthday (11-10-02), Loews Cineplex Entertainment hosted a special Sneak Preview of a draft of a one hour segment of the film.   The next month, The Washington Post Co. ran an article comparing Greg's 'start' and his 'legacy' with filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

MEDIA: Greg has been featured in/by media such as USA Today, Education Week, NBC, FOX, Art World News, Nation's Restaurant News, The NonProfit Times, NPR, CBC, Newsweek Kaplan College Guide and The Washington Post Co. At the turn of the century, Good Morning America buried a Time Capsule which chronicled Greg's efforts to team up with the restaurant industry to break down racial, cultural and social barriers. 

WORKING WITH STUDENTS:  After graduating college, Greg spent a year working as a substitute teacher (while working on weekends as a restaurant doorman).  The one year teaching turned into eight.   Along the way, and since then, Greg has served as Scholar-in-Residence or Writer-in-Residence at a number of schools around North America, and served as Honorary Principal for a Day on several occasions.  Over the years, Greg has given internships or externships to dozens of high school and college students from around the country including ones from schools such as The George Washington University, Princeton University, University of California - Berkeley, St. Louis University, Knox College, Howard University, DePaul University and Loyola University of Chicago.

ACADEMIC:   In high school, Greg played three varsity sports (Basketball, Baseball and Football), was elected (by his peers) and appointed (by administrators) to Student Government positions, served as Editor of the school newspaper, Editor-in-Chief of its Literary Magazine, and graduated Cum Laude.  At the age of 18, he was rejected from every college he hoped to attend.  Determined to continue his education, Greg refused to give up and talked his way into a school to which he had not originally applied.  The summer after his sophomore year, he unexpectedly found himself on the campus of another university, spontaneously decided he wanted to go there and talked his way into an opportunity to do it.  In all, Greg finished college with 37 A's and a B - and graduated with Highest Distinction.   Outside of class, during his time in college, Greg was elected to Student Government by his peers, launched a mentoring program in the local community, joined a fraternity, served an Internship on Capitol Hill, and was appointed by the Dean to the position of Student Chairman of Community Service. 

Since graduating, he has received a number of honorary degrees.

PERSONAL: Greg was born and raised in the Chicago area.  His middle name was given to him in deference to Forbes magazine and Malcolm Forbes by a stockbroker father who believed the magazine and its publisher symbolized 'success' and hoped the name would inspire his first child to pursue it.  Greg can 'communicate' fluently in English and Spanish (he cannot 'speak' Spanish fluently with perfect grammar, but he is close).  Greg's lifelong best friend was his Grandma  (who passed away in 2002).  His favorite historical and contemporary figures include Harriet Tubman, Joann Robinson and Nelson Mandela. His favorite literary and cinematic figures include Forrest Gump, Roy Hobbs and Rocky Balboa.    He likes all kinds of sports, working out at the gym, movies, and animals.  

To see a Timeline, with photos, click here