Dr. Tom Grassano
Dr. Tom Grassano is an author, speaker, and change maker who mentors leaders and leads strategic outreach to the poor and disenfranchised. He is an accomplished performer and composer with a Doctorate in Music from Florida State University. After serving in outreach projects in and outside the U.S. during his education, he eventually left his music career and founded Urban Harvest Ministries in 1994 in the South Bronx community called “Fort Apache,” one of the poorest and most violent communities in the nation. Beginning first in a store front and then renovating an abandoned casket factory, Tom established an outreach center called The Harvest Center where students and adults were empowered toward their destines through tutoring, mentoring, education, creative arts, and discipleship.
Opposition, limited resources, and even death threats did not prevent the fulfillment of the vision to bring hope, to see generational cycles broken, and to propel people toward the destinies God had ordained for them.
Tom expanded Urban Harvest to Detroit in 2005 and founded Hope for the City, an initiative uniting people, churches, and organizations across cultural, racial and economic boundaries to bring hope to suffering communities in Detroit. Hope for the City impacted more than a dozen of the most impoverished communities in Detroit, bringing a message of hope to thousands and equipping churches to bring the hope of the Gospel with relevance as they learned to pastor the streets around them. Tom was presented with the Spirit of Detroit award by the Mayor and City Council of Detroit for improving the quality of life of the city.
During this time, Tom launched two new ministries under Urban Harvest: the Ignite Ministry and the Bridge School of Mission. Ignite is a mentoring and discipleship ministry changing the lives of young adults and providing life-changing opportunities to serve. Through the Bridge School of Mission, leaders are empowered in servant leadership and the principles of ministry that have brought transformation to people and communities through Urban Harvest.
In 2018, Tom established Go-Mission which is empowering the poor through humanitarian and educational outreach around the world. In every location, Tom and his family are mentoring leaders, strategizing for sustainable change, building bridges across cultures, and improving quality of life through clean water projects, agricultural development, health and nutrition education, and the educational sponsorship of children. As a result, the quality of life of villages is improving, infant mortality rates are dropping, children have access to education, and people are being empowered toward a brighter future.
Tom has dedicated his life to bringing hope to the unreached and disenfranchised and empowering others to do the same in some of the most desolate places. He has served as a speaker, teacher, and outreach leader across the U.S. and abroad. His greatest passion is his family – his wife, Lidia, and his children, Angel and Tommy. United in mission, God is using this family as agents of hope and catalysts for change in some of the most desperate places.
To learn more about the various ministries of Urban Harvest, click here
To learn more about the international humanitarian and educational outreach of Go-Mission, click here
