Some leaders are made, others are born, Anthony Hall is definitely the latter. A dedicated family man, community leader, and advocate, he is the humble hero that Rochesterians need in this hour. A raised son of this community, Anthony grew up on Rochester’s northeast side in the fight village housing projects. It was there Anthony was first exposed to the importance of community as he was raised b
y his grandmother, community giant Delaine Cook-Green. Mother Cook-Green has been a staunch trailblazer for northeast Rochester’s most vulnerable for decades. It was her example that inspired Anthony to start his non-profit Book Bags Express. Every year Book Bags Express collects school supplies and delivers them to scholars returning to school, hosts food drives, teach-ins, and issue awareness-raising meetings in the community, just to name a few of their efforts. Through Anthony’s work with Book Bags Express, he would see the magnitude of Rochester’s challenges, particularly its youth; this experience encouraged him to become a Youth Intervention Gang Specialist, for Pathways to Peace at the City of Rochester. For seven years, Anthony served on the front line in the war for our city’s future by building a safer city for our young people. Feeling a call to do more, Anthony left Pathways to Peace to pursue a call in K-12 education. Anthony accepted a position as a Dean at Vertus High School. Anthony was able to receive an intimate view into the lives of his students, a role and experience that has led him to this point. Today Anthony is pursuing city council because he knows it will take collective action to move the needle against any of Rochester’s challenges. Anthony knows that only a coalition of leaders from across ALL of Rochester will be able to break down the barriers of confusion, misunderstanding, fear, and hate that keep us paralyzed in the grasp of the status quo. Anthony hopes that we seize the potential at this moment; he is asking you to share in this hope and join him as he takes a stand for us all.
