Citizens Energy Group is a long-time partner of Multiplying Good (formerly known as the Jefferson Awards Foundation). Citizens’ President & CEO Jeffrey Harrison serves on the Multiplying Good Indiana Board of Directors. He participated in Multiplying Good’s blog series entitled “Exploring the Role of Service in the Black Community.” Below is an excerpt from the interview. You can read the full interview at https://www.multiplyinggood.org/blog.
As a Black man, how has service to others benefited you and your community?
Growing up as a Black young man in Jeffersonville, Indiana, I benefited tremendously from service-oriented individuals in my community. My father was a bricklayer and we weren’t well off, so opportunities outside of my family and school were relatively limited.
Someone who saw potential in me was my high school guidance counselor, Mrs. Moser. I was on track to graduate high school and become a bricklayer like my father, but Mrs. Moser saw a different future for me. She noted that my success on the basketball team and my standing in the top 10 percent of my class weren’t easy to achieve without hard work and dedication. She asked if I had ever thought about studying engineering. “What about Rose-Hulman?” she said. My first thought was “Who’s Rose Hulman?” That conversation changed my trajectory, though, and I went on to graduate from Rose-Hulman with a degree in electrical engineering. Mrs. Moser helped put me on the path to where I am today.
Why have you chosen to prioritize service to others and recognition at your company?
Service to others is a fundamental element of Citizens Energy Group. The company’s founders established Citizens as a public utility focused on delivering outstanding customer service while fostering economic development across this growing city. Citizens remains dedicated to this vision because we believe it supports a better quality of life for everyone in the communities we serve. Citizens’ commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy further shines through our Sharing the Dream program. Citizens also encourages our employees to serve individually.
In your opinion, what is the biggest/most significant impact service to others can have on Black communities? Why?
The protests that took place around the country last summer were a sign of anger and lost hope in the Black community. Racial injustice didn’t appear overnight, and it certainly won’t disappear overnight. Encouraging signs emerged, though, when people of all races came together to show solidarity. And I’m not talking about rallying around slogans or hashtags, but rather a genuine commitment to action and change.
Action and change are integral to the recently formed Business Equity for Indy initiative, which I am proud to chair. Business Equity for Indy is a collection of aligned Central Indiana companies dedicated to working together to identify, develop and implement programs across the city aimed at increasing fair and equitable participation in our economy by all our citizens, especially people of color.
What is your earliest service-oriented memory?
I benefited greatly from the service as others as I was growing up. My first real personal service commitment was joining Big Brothers Big Sisters when I graduated from college. I wanted to pay forward the gift of service that had been given to me by connecting with and supporting a young man in need of a strong male role model in his life.
Tell us about your service work.
In addition to my role as chair of Business Equity for Indy, I’m also passionate about my service on the boards of the Indianapolis Urban League and the Center for Leadership Development.
The mission of the Indianapolis Urban League is to assist African-Americans, other minorities and disadvantaged individuals achieve social and economic equality. The mission of the Center for Leadership Development is to foster the advancement of minority youth in Central Indiana as future professional, business and community leaders by providing experiences that encourage personal development and educational attainment.
How does your racial identity affect your experience as an advocate for service to others?
I believe it’s important that diverse men and women are visible while doing good in the community, so diverse young people see people who look like them and are inspired to follow in their footsteps.
But I also am inspired when older Black men, who are themselves committed to service, approach me and offer congratulations on my professional achievements and community commitments, sharing that they didn’t know if they would ever see anyone who looks like me in my position. These incredibly humbling moments motivate me to further commit myself to inspiring the hearts and minds of young people. These men paved the way for me, and I can only hope I’m able to do the same for future generations.
