Quincy Resident Named Director of Embrace Ideas, King Boston

King Boston has announced that Gregory Ball has joined the nonprofit as Director of Embrace Ideas. Ball brings more than two decades of experience as a cultural curator, journalist, and content creator to this new role and will be essential in helping guide the organization through ongoing Embrace Ideas programming and the Annual Embrace Summit.

“A proven leader with comprehensive team training and spatial justice experience, Greg is the perfect fit to develop, manage and drive initiatives that shape will the community and address systematic racism and wellbeing,” said Imari Paris Jeffries, Executive Director of King Boston. “Greg will be in charge of all aspects of our Embrace Ideas programming and events while transforming the city’s landscape into the future that the Kings were working towards.”

Ball will focus on community engagement and partnership development grounded in activities and campaigns addressing well-being initiatives, arts and spatial justice.

Prior to joining King Boston, Ball worked at Berkshire Bank as Marketing Content Manager and was its first Reevx Brand Manager, where he planned and executed the development and launch of the entrepreneurial co-working space for communities of color, The Reevx Lab in Nubian Square. He is also the co-founder and editor of KBX Media, a Boston-based digital editorial platform and media content creation company that takes a critical, comprehensive and irreverent look at the lifestyles and culture of urban creativity.

“King Boston has the opportunity to impact the community of Boston and far beyond,” said Ball. “We’re focused on the well-being of society and creating a Boston that people can thrive in. Embrace Ideas encapsulates what Boston is made of, highlighting people of color and institutions led by people of color, to sustain the mission that the Kings came here to find. I’m fortunate to be a part of this journey.”

Ball, a five-time nominee for Music Journalist of The Year at the Boston Music Awards, currently serves on the Board Of Directors for Boston Art & Music Soul (BAMS) Fest, a nonprofit organization that breaks down racial and social barriers to arts, music, and culture across Greater Boston. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Massachusetts, Boston. Raised in Boston, Ball currently lives in Quincy with his family.

King Boston works to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, their time and work in Boston in the 1950s, while addressing economic and racial inequities. On January 18, 2021, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, King Boston will be holding a virtual dedication ceremony for “The Embrace memorial, a 22-foot-high monument on Boston Common consisting of four intertwined bronze arms intended to inspire the social justice values the Kings espoused. The virtual celebration will feature political, civic and cultural voices sharing sentiments and values that the Kings have instilled as part of their legacy in Boston.

About King Boston

Founded in 2017, King Boston is a privately funded nonprofit working closely with the City of Boston and the Boston Foundation to create a living memorial and programs honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King and their time and work together in Boston. “The Embrace” memorial, the King Center for Economic Justice, and Embrace Ideas are intended to inspire and activate social justice values that empower each of us to consider how we can realize the King Family's vision of an equitable and fair society.