Grace Greene loved growing up in Jackson, MS and has fond memories of the city from her childhood. She is married to Mason Greene, and they are the proud parents of four young children. She and Mason love Jackson and are committed to the city— they live here, worship here, send their kids to Jackson Public Schools, and invest their time and money into initiatives to benefit the city. Mason's family business, Hotel and Restaurant Supply (now Singer H&R) has been an industry leader in the Southeast for over 70 years, and has had a location in the Jackson city limits for over four decades. The Greenes live in the Heatherwood neighborhood where their kids love to scooter and bike. They are active members of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Ward 1, where they participate in all aspects of church life. Grace loves her local gym, Crossfit JXN, and Mason loves to play tennis in ward 1 wherever he finds a hitting partner and open court.
Grace graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mississippi College in 2004 with a Bachelor's Degree of Social Work and a major in Spanish. She then completed a Master’s Degree in Community Economic Development in 2008.
Grace’s career has been focused from the beginning on public service and social entrepreneurship. Grace’s early adulthood included teaching middle school, working in Peru doing missions and economic development, and serving as an adjunct professor at Belhaven University teaching International Business and Development. In addition to all of this, the highlight of her twenties was founding and running Peru Paper Company, a fair-trade business providing employment to Peruvian women, which she ran until her second child was born.
Through her experience having children, Grace realized the lack of childbirth education services in the Jackson area. An entrepreneur at heart, Grace decided to address this community need by becoming a certified childbirth educator and birth doula, providing childbirth education classes and birth doula services to over 200 Jackson-area families through her business Grace in Birthing. As her family has grown, she has stepped away from childbirth work and directed her business acumen to an online reselling business.
In her twenties, Grace spent two years in South America doing missionary work including teaching English and running an English language school, teaching children's Sunday school, doing translation work for visiting groups, and organizing community microfinance groups and economic development projects. As a childbirth educator and doula, she served as the Mississippi Ambassador for Count the Kicks, a stillbirth awareness and prevention organization. Count the Kicks partners with the Mississippi Health Department to help reduce Mississippi's high stillbirth rate.
Grace currently volunteers with The Net, a faith-based organization that provides free mentoring and counseling services to families and individuals impacted by poverty and incarceration. Through this program Grace serves as a mentor with MDOC inmates and helps lead a Bible study in a women's prison, working to reduce recidivism through meaningful relationships. She coordinates other mentors to expand the program for a greater impact. She also serves on the board of Grant Me Justice, a program of Jackson Leadership Foundation and the board of Little Blessings, an adoption support non-profit. She is a member of the Jackson chapter of the League of Women Voters and Working Together Jackson.