Remembering My Mentor, Jim Hooker
As many of you are probably aware, Jim Hooker passed away on Sunday afternoon. Televerde lost its co-founder, visionary and dear friend. We’ve had an outpouring of grief from clients and employees– past and present—with many asking how they can share their thoughts, condolences and memories of Jim. We’ve put together a few ways to honor him.
- Watch and share Jim’s TEDx, My Journey from Privilege to Prison, where he challenged all of us to look beyond societal stigmas and see people for who they are today and what they could be in the future. His messages are as relevant and meaningful today as they were when he delivered them in 2018.
- Donate to the James Hooker Endowment for Future Scholars Program and help provide scholarships for college degrees and other types of advanced education and certifications to formerly incarcerated women. By investing in people after incarceration, we continue Jim’s legacy to empower women with pathways that enable them to advance both their professional careers and personal lives. As he said time and again, “the human spirit under the right conditions and given the right opportunity could rise up and achieve extraordinary things.”
Jim was the most inspiring individual I have ever met and worked for. He was a role model for and a believer in society’s outcasts. He taught people to see talent and potential in the most disempowered among us. A pioneer in second chances, Jim believed that everyone deserved opportunities to become more than their worst mistake and he dedicated his life to creating those opportunities. The world is a better place because Jim was in it, and his spirit and legacy will be with us always.
