5-01 Breaking the Rules - The Homeboy Way

Leading with heart, authenticity, and purpose, Thomas Vozzo, Chief Financial Officer of Homeboy Industries,  provides a clear path to a new bottom line—including 55 rules to break—bringing the Homeboy Way to life as the perfect antidote to the massive tidal currents of social injustice and inequities. He will be joined by Fr. Greg Boyle, the Founder of Homeboy Industries, to share experiences and stories.

Gregory Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. Born and raised in Los Angeles and Jesuit priest, from 1986 to 1992 Father Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights. Dolores Mission was the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city. Father Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called "decade of death" that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, he and parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings. In 1988 they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life. Father Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller "Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion". His second book, "Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship", was published in 2017. And his new and third book is now available, "The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness". He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Obama named Father Boyle a "Champion of Change". He received the University of Notre Dame's 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. In 2020, he served as a committee member of California Governor Gavin Newsom's Economic and Job Recovery Task Force as a response to COVID-19 crisis. In the same year, Homeboy Industries was the recipient of the 2020 Hilton Humanitarian Prize validating 32 years of Fr. Greg's vision and work by the organization for over three decades.

Thomas Vozzo
For much of his career, Thomas Vozzo was a global business executive with a proven track record, leading highly successful businesses in the service, retail and distribution industries.  He is well regarded for growing businesses and is known for strong execution skills, constantly exceeding earnings targets, even during challenging economic times. His last corporate role was as CEO of the $1.8 billion ARAMARK Uniform and Career Apparel Group. His definition of transformation changed dramatically with his introduction to Father Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries.  As he began working at the non-profit organization, Vozzo himself noted, “The blind spot I had is typical for so many of us.  Through no fault of our own, by just being in the mainstream of society, we stay isolated from those most unlike ourselves and outside our station in life.”In 2012, Vozzo started serving as the first CEO of Homeboy Industries, the largest and most successful gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world.  Vozzo, as a non-paid employee, has led the organization bringing his business expertise and vision to implement a strategic and mission driven plan, resulting in a near tripling of the size of the organization and increasing its impact.  In helping Homeboy Industries thrive over the last several years, Vozzo says he has “gained knowledge and insight about my own spirituality and the plight of the underserved and marginalized in our society.”In 2020 Homeboy was awarded the prestigious Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize for its humanitarian impact. Vozzo has also launched a $15 million Homeboy Ventures and Jobs Fund, which will enable likeminded people a way to invest in businesses that produce quality jobs which leads to real economic impact for our societyIt is Vozzo’s goal to work himself out of his current CEO role and get out of the way— to make room for the homeboys and homegirls to run Homeboy.  He is confident they will lead the organization into a bright future.