By james art 
By Joseph D. Bryant | jbryant@al.com
As a child growing up in the rural southern alabama in the 1960s, Chris Womak had not seen a building higher than two stories, nor did he know what the corporate executive was.
But the Greenville native received advice from his grandmother, who shapes his future and continues to manage him personally and professionally.
“She never allowed me or my brothers to be limited by anything. Not to be limited by the restrictions on my race or because of where I grew up, “Womak told a group gathered at the Birmingham Club Thursday.
The success would come if he was ready to look for him and treat everyone along the way, Womack recalled.
“Through the grace of God, I can be what I want to be. I have to invest the work. I have to treat everyone right, “he said. “With this kind of faith and faith and hope and optimism, the sky is the limit.”
Womack was the guest during lunch of the founders and leaders hosted by Birmingham’s head at Alpha Phi Alpha Brothernity.
Womack, the leader of the largest utility companies in the country and the mother of Alabama Power, sat down for discussion, where he talks about his early years, his growth while in Birmingham and his belief in shared corporate and personal responsibility for improving life to others.
“I can’t do anything alone,” Womak said. “It is necessary to take a village, it takes a family, it takes a bunch of us to do collective things to make a change,” said Wamak. “As we sit at the table, doing the business we need to do, how to make sure we do another job while we are there.”
Womack also touched the degree of killings in Birmingham and what could be done to deal with it. The assumptions are a shared responsibility, he explained.
Birmingham ended 2024 with 152 murders, the largest number in the city since 1933. Birmingham has already reported 15 killings this year.
“You say,” Whose problem is that? Who should decide this? Is the problem with Mayor Udfin? Is the country’s problem? We all need to understand what role and what part we are playing to help find solutions to these types of problems that are in our community, “Woman said. “I have a responsibility to make sure I make a change.”
As an example, Woman noted his collaboration with the mayor of Atlanta on initiatives to deal with homelessness in this city. The southern company is based in Atlanta.
“I do not want the problem with the homeless in Atlanta to turn out what happened in San Francisco, Los Angeles and elsewhere,” he said. “This is something we all have to do with regard to finding our own path and finding our own way of helping to try to make a change.”
The event was upgraded by Erskine “Chuck” Faush, Chief Development Officer, Innovation and Growth at Miles College and CEO of the Innovation Center 2150.
“I worked for him, I worked with him and he was my mentor,” Faush told Al.com later. “Our support from Miles College and the 2150 Innovation Center has been brought to our mission to give tools and resources to the next generation of innovators, destroyers and change of games.”
Faush called the event an opportunity to inspire and show the success of young men in the audience with the older members of the brotherhood.
“We have all had someone in our lives who helped us to form, shape and guide us,” he said. “This brought together new leaders, colleges and high school students to be in the same room with members of our brotherhood, who not only work but embody who we are as a servant leaders.”
As a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Womack called the Community Development Organization and positive changes. He challenged to use existing historical organizations such as his to deal with current needs.
“We have a built -in network of people we can march that we can gather around a cause that is so critical. We have the opportunity to make a very, very, very big difference, “he said. “These organizations already have infrastructure and membership. How do we stimulate this choice, that we need to deal with the great challenges we face in our communities and in our country? “
Womack noted that the National Brotherhood is based on the principles of scholarships and love for all humanity.
“These virtues are just as important today as in 1906. I would subjugate you that they are more important today than in 1906,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to invest your hard work and don’t be afraid to do difficult things.”