Honoree George Spencer, Sr NABHI 2021 Lifetime Achievement award

In all that he does, George C. Spencer Sr. gladly gives of himself to others. “I look at the things I do as being a byproduct of who I am in Christ. They tend to be things I feel a calling to,” says Spencer, 66, of Wilkinsburg, the 2021 recipient of Nabhi Christian Ministries’ Lifetime Achievement Award. And Spencer’s achievements are many. Since 2014, he has been an elder at Covenant Church of Pittsburgh, where he was married in October 2020 to Deborah L. Perry Spencer. He is a board member of Hosanna House Inc., a Boy Scout leader and Little League coach, a member of Wilkinsburg School District’s Strategic Planning Committee, and chairman of the Community Policing Committee for Wilkinsburg Weed and Seed. He was a fellow (2000-2002) with the Carnegie Mellon University Community Think Tank, and a fellow with the Pilgrim Institute’s Repairing the Breach. In 2010, he was named an Urban Hero by the Center for Urban Biblical Ministry. In his professional career, Spencer rose through the ranks to hold prestigious positions. He retired from the U.S. Postal Service in 2018 after 37 years, but he remains a member and officer of the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees (NAPFE), a union started in 1913 by African American mail workers who worked on rail cars. With the alliance, he served in several positions, including his current role as national editor of its magazine and, since August, as national second vice president. “One of the things I had to make clear to people when I retired was that I can no longer commit eight to 12 hours, five or six days a week, to the Postal Service,” he says. “When you hear that word ‘retired’ it does not mean I’m available for this other work you have in mind. But somehow, I was elevated to higher responsibility.” While on the job, Spencer was certified by the Postal Service Management Academy to be an Equal Employment Opportunity counselor/investigator, giving him an opportunity to look into EEO complaints lodged by other employees on an as-needed basis. That position, and his work with the union, enabled him to take a stand for others at critical times. “I didn't go through a lot of problems in my career, but I witnessed a lot of people who did,” says Spencer. “When you’re a counselor, it’s questionable your ability to resolve things; you’re a neutral fact-finder. But there’s a degree of trying to see whether either side is willing to work toward resolution. ”One of his most rewarding roles is with Men Against Destruction-Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder, or MAD DADS. He founded the Pittsburgh chapter in 2006 and has been its president ever since, and after serving in several positions with the national organization, he has been the national president since December 2020. #18ricco #ncmawards2021 #georgespencer