2 2 • GCU TODAY
A
day in the life of Tom Granado
starts like a space launch — early
and with a burst of energy that
takes it to new heights.
He and his wife, Wynn, get up at 4:30 a.m.
and pray for a half-hour before she goes to work
and he goes to work out. A few hours later,
when the founder and CEO of New Horizon
Youth Homes arrives in his Tempe, Ariz.,
office, his staff members say it’s impossible not
to know he’s there, such is his considerable
presence. They talk fondly about his “Tom-
isms,” about the way he gets excited about new
ideas in staff meetings, and about how the
family atmosphere he has created makes it like
no other job they’ve had.
It takes passion and unflagging enthusiasm to
run 14 Valley locations that provide residential
and outpatient services to at-risk children, teens
and adults. It takes an incredible work ethic to
do all that while completing his doctorate at
Grand Canyon University.
It takes someone like Tom Granado.
“Our role model is our CEO,” said Jason
Kindred, program director of New Horizons.
“What I like,” added administrative director
Mindy Leon, “is that we’re given so much by
Tom, but if we have an idea, we’re able to go to
Tom and he’ll usually say, ‘Try it.’”
Prayers answered
Granado’s decision to pursue a doctorate came
after a time in his life when he wasn’t feeling
so great. While going through a divorce, he
also was trying to figure out the next steps for
New Horizon, which he established in 2001.
“I got lost for a year or two, but God used
it to get my attention,” he said. “When I
recommitted myself to God, things started
going well. I dedicated the agency to God, and
that’s what led me to GCU.”
Granado heard about the University on
the radio and had seen it on billboards, so he
applied. He remembers the exact time — 5:45
p.m. on a Friday — in the spring of 2013 when
he got a call from a GCU enrollment counselor
asking, “Are you ready to start your doctorate?”
And so it was that a man with so much
on his plate added a full helping of work
on a doctor of education in organizational
leadership with an emphasis in organizational
development.
“I had just been praying, asking God, ‘What’s
next?’” he said. “I said to God, ‘I’ll do the
homework, but you’ve got to help me run this
agency.’
“I understand why God sent me back—
because we needed to evolve. We’re doing this
based on what I’ve learned at GCU. It’s exactly
what I needed— to look at things in a new way.”
On
line
Higher Calling
Working on doctorate is one more way CEO of
youth homes fulfills his lofty goals
B Y R I C K V A C E K
