Gregory Wims is a local businessman and community activist who founded the Victims' Rights Foundation (VRF) in response to the senseless killings of three Washington D.C. area women in 1996. Moved by the grace of God, Gregory is dedicated in supporting victims and their families of violent crimes and attacks. He was instrumental in forming and supporting the Sniper Victims’ Fund in response to the sniper attacks in the Washington D.C. metro area in 2002. He raised $500,000 for the victims families.

In the grand scheme, however, he is really a man with a long volunteer career and a burning desire to bring comfort and aid to those in need. In the last 43 years he has raised more than 2 million dollars, logged more than 1 million miles and volunteered more than 42,000 hours on community service projects.

He began his volunteer career in 1969, when he was elected vice president of the State of Maryland Youth Commission. The next year, as president of that organization, he played a pivotal role in lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. In the 1970’s, he served as the youngest person ever appointed by the County Executive as Commissioner of the Montgomery County Maryland Human Relations Commission. In this role, he worked with community officials to hire the first African American to the police department.

From 1974 to 1976, he was the first male Head Start teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland. In the 1980s, he led the Social Concern Committee at Goshen United Methodist Church and set up a prison ministry program. He also founded United Brothers, Inc., organized the first “gun turn-in” program in Montgomery County, and chaired the “Get Out to Vote” campaign.

In the early 1990s, Gregory Wims served as the membership chairman for the NAACP, recruiting more than 1,000 new members. In 1994, he was elected president of the Montgomery County Chapter of the NAACP, and one-year later; he was voted President of the NAACP’s Maryland State Chapter. In this role, he led more peaceful demonstrations than any previous president and organized with Janice Washington the first federal employment task force for the National NAACP. During this, he was also appointed by President George Bush as a Board Member of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Mr. Wims currently serves on the following boards: Universities of Maryland at Shady Grove, University of Maryland Dental School, Montgomery College Foundation Board, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, Children"s Charities Foundation, Bethesda Chevy Chase Rotary Club Foundation Board. He is currently serving as Area Governor for the Bethesda Clubs in District 7620 for Rotary International. He is also the Producer and Host for "Montgomery Matters" a local TV Show seen on Channel 21, Montgomery Community Media.