“This university has given me more than I will ever be able to give it,” Ford said. “I married a fellow Aggie. It was in this auditorium that I knew I wanted to pledge Kappa Alpha Psi and A&T continues to give to me to this very day.”

Ford was elected as senator in North Carolina’s 38th district in November 2012 when he captured more than 80 percent of the vote. Immediately after taking office, he was appointed to several committees including the agriculture/environment/natural resources, appropriations base budget and transportation as well as finance, insurance and transportation as a member.

While the convocation was technically the first alumni event of homecoming weekend, Ford used his speech to speak to the students about taking charge of their lives as students and beyond.

“I’m amazed at the number of people I come in contact with who are looking to make withdrawals but have yet to make deposits,” Ford said. “Remember – plant, cultivate and harvest,” he said.

Ford is currently the business operations executive for TPM Consulting and chief innovative officer for Carolina Premier Bank in Charlotte. Prior to these positions, he worked for Waste Management of Atlanta and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He later developed a business plan to create his own waste management company and several other companies including a restaurant, barbershop and salon.

A large part of Ford’s success has been the relationships he’s built.

“Relationships matter. The ones you build in your fraternities, sororities, athletic teams, your Aggie clubs – those relationships are real and they last a lifetime,” he said.

The community he accessed at North Carolina A&T State University was simply an extension of the community that was built while growing up in public housing with his single mother.

“One of the key differences was a mother who never allowed me to feel like I was inferior,” he said. “I was surrounded by a lot of people in the community who wanted me to be successful.”

In his speech, he encouraged students to take advantage of the community at N.C. A&T and pay it forward. Ford is doing his part as an alumnus and a BOV member to help move the university to preeminence for the current and future Aggies.

“On this convocation day we must remember to be vigilant to secure the gains we’ve made and the ones we will make in the future,” he said.

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