Megan: Thank you so much for tuning in today for SheBoss. This is a very special day. I wore this shirt specifically for the woman sitting next to me, and I’ll explain why in just a second. I’m absolutely honored to be sitting with Bobby Bradley, having coffee this morning.
You are such an amazing woman who our community knows and respects. Thank you so much for carving out time to chat with us today.
Bobby: I am honored to be here and thankful you asked me. I’m really looking forward to it.
Megan: We’ve had the absolute honor of getting to know an organization that you’ve been so heavily involved with. As we got involved with this local nonprofit, your name kept surfacing in so many different ways. I was blown away that we hadn’t met sooner. And once I started learning about you, I knew I had to meet you. You’ve made such generational impact in our community, worked in the corporate world, overcome challenges, and celebrated many wins. I’ve only heard a snippet of your story, and I’m already fascinated.
Your family’s history here in this community runs deep. You have such a beautiful story, and I’m just honored to help share even a little of it today. I’d love for you to start by telling us about your background and where you came from. Then we’ll dive into some of the big projects you’ve been working on.
Bobby: Thank you so much. I’m eager to share and grateful that I can. I always start every presentation with gratitude—first to God, because He has been so good to me and my family. The things I’ve attempted to do have only been possible through Him.
Second, I thank my parents. That’s really where my story begins. From my perspective, they were ideal. I thank God He placed me with them. I was an only child, but I had a village. I lived in a small community right in the center of Huntsville. We had strong relationships with all the families in that area. Everyone looked out for each other. The kids played together, and every parent cared for every child.
My parents had high expectations for me, and so did the community. I often use that as an example of the environment I want to create in the neighborhood where Village of Promise now works. A true village where everyone supports one another and sets high expectations for the children.
I grew up in the early 1950s. Early on, I attended a private school started by nuns and priests who came to Huntsville to establish a school for African American children. This was during segregation. They walked through our neighborhood and encouraged parents to send their children to what was then St. Joseph’s Mission School, which is now Holy Family School. It’s still active and thriving today.
They nurtured us and created an environment where we loved going to school. I credit that experience, from second to eighth grade, as a major foundation in my life. It’s one of the main reasons I’ve been able to do what I’ve done. That’s why I believe so strongly in early childhood education. A strong foundation early on increases the probability of long-term success.
After eighth grade, I went to Council High, a segregated school, for one year. Then, in tenth grade, schools were integrated. I was part of the first group of students to attend Butler High. It was challenging. No one spoke to us. We were treated like outsiders because of our skin color.
But I knew I had a gift. I wasn’t an athlete or a singer—I realized my gift was my intellect. So I set a goal to be inducted into the National Honor Society, even though there were no Black students in it at the time. I set that dream and made it happen. Achieving that gave me confidence. It solidified that I would use my intellect to accomplish my goals.
And I always say that one person can make a difference. For me, it was the guidance counselor who approached me in my junior year and asked where I was going to college. I mentioned a few schools my friends were applying to. She encouraged me to consider Ivy League schools and told me they were looking for strong minority students. She said they offered scholarships and believed I could be a great candidate.
I applied to several schools in the Northeast, but I knew I didn’t want to stay in Huntsville and didn’t want to go too far away either. I applied to Vanderbilt. They gave me the best offer, and I decided to go there. When I started in the fall of 1967, I was one of only 100 Black students at the university.
Megan: Oh my gosh.
Bobby: It was daunting. But I knew I could do it. My goal was to graduate in four years. My parents didn’t have the resources to support me financially. I had scholarships and a loan. My parents had to pay $400 a semester. At that time, that was a lot of money. I knew I didn’t have time to mess around. I had to do my best, graduate in four years, and move forward.
Megan: It’s very clear your parents were influential in your life. What inspired them to encourage you to dream big and follow through on those dreams?
Bobby: I tell parents all the time—tell your children the truth, even if they don’t hear it right away. I didn’t always hear what my parents were saying at the time, but their words stayed with me. They were my example of character and hard work. My father always worked two jobs. My mother, a teacher, worked during the summer, too. They believed no one owed you anything and that you had to work for everything.
They also taught me to be kind. Don’t burn bridges. And most importantly, they raised me with faith. I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t know about God. That was always a foundation in our home.
Huntsville is important to me. I can trace back at least three generations of my family here. When I graduated from college, I didn’t plan to return, but my best job offer was in Huntsville. Looking back, it was the best thing that could’ve happened. Sometimes your plans change for a reason.
My parents dropped me off at Vanderbilt with one trunk and didn’t return until graduation. That wasn’t neglect—it was trust. They believed in me. They were busy working. I came home during summers to work, but I handled school on my own. When they came for my graduation, I saw the pride on their faces. That meant everything to me.
Megan: Let’s talk about that first job offer.
Bobby: I had interned at Northrop during college, and after graduation, they made me a full-time offer. That’s why I talk so much about the importance of internships. They open doors.
Eventually, I moved to work for Computer Sciences Corporation, and then later spent 15 years with the Army at Redstone Arsenal. I always had a dream of owning my own business. I thought it might be in retail because I loved fashion. I even worked part-time in retail while in corporate roles to explore it. But eventually, I realized that wasn’t the path.
After some other entrepreneurial ventures—including Amway—I and two colleagues decided to start our own company in 1989. We were all trained in technical fields, so we launched Computer Systems Technology. At first, we didn’t have government contracts, so we focused on commercial work we could do at night and on weekends.
Then a defense contractor asked us to submit our resumes for a proposal. They won and asked us to join them as employees. Instead, we proposed coming on as a subcontractor through our own company. That opportunity allowed us to leave our full-time jobs and support ourselves through our business.
Megan: And how long did you run that company?
Bobby: Fourteen years. Our dream was to build a $100 million company. We told our team that if they helped us do it, we’d share in the rewards. And we did. In 2003, we sold to SAIC, an employee-owned company. Everyone became an employee-owner, and they kept us together as a standalone business unit. I stayed for a year, then transitioned out.
Megan: Looking back, what lessons did you learn?
Bobby: One, have a clear dream. That vision will carry you through challenges. Two, make sure everyone is aligned with that dream. And three, take care of your people. I used to say, “I work for you.” My role was to make sure employees had everything they needed to succeed. And I always wanted people who left the company to say it was the best place they’d ever worked.
Megan: And then you decided to start a nonprofit.
Bobby: Yes, though I didn’t plan to. Gloria Batts and I grew up together in the same neighborhood. I had been working with another nonprofit and saw firsthand the struggles families face. Around that time, we learned about the Harlem Children’s Zone. We believed we could replicate that here.
The mission is to eradicate generational poverty. We do that by offering a continuum of services from cradle to career. The idea is to create a strong support system—starting with early childhood and continuing through career entry.
We focus on a specific neighborhood. You can’t serve an entire city at once. You start small, plant your flag, and build from there. Since 2011, we’ve seen tremendous success. We’ve supported kids who didn’t start with us early but still succeeded. But ideally, we walk with families from infancy through adulthood.
Megan: I love that the model supports both kids and their parents.
Bobby: Absolutely. Many parents just need someone to believe in them and guide them to the right resources. We don’t provide every service ourselves—we focus on education and family support. But we partner with other organizations for things like health, housing, and food. Collaboration is key.
Megan: Speaking of community, you host two big events each year. Tell us about those.
Bobby: Our Speaker Series happens every April. We bring in thought leaders. Last year, we hosted Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats. His message wasn’t just about athletics—it was about character and leadership.
The other event is One Table. It started as a grassroots effort by young professionals who passed it on to us. It’s held in Big Spring Park—what we call Huntsville’s living room. We serve Thanksgiving meals to anyone who comes. There’s no program, no agenda—just people coming together. Our motto is, “Come as strangers, leave as friends.”
Megan: It’s such a special event. And Bobby, I could talk to you for hours. Your journey is incredible. Your contributions to this community are so meaningful.
Bobby: Thank you. I just feel blessed to be able to do the work I’ve been called to do. My husband asks when I’ll stop, and I tell him—when I can’t do it anymore.
Megan: So what’s the next dream on the horizon?
Bobby: To see Village of Promise become fully sustainable so it continues even without me. And to spend more time with my family and my great-grandbabies. Each day is a gift. I’m healthy, I feel called to this work, and I’m grateful.
Megan: You can’t ask for more than that. Thank you so much for joining us. We’re cheering you on every step of the way.