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Dare to Overcome award from American Airlines goes to Justin Greene

5 Jun, 2021

IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Washington DC, Dallas TX)

American Airlines awards two round trip business class American Airlines tickets to attend Dare to Overcome, Tokyo, Japan, to Justin Greene, a lead for a major technology services organization Persons with Disability (PwD) Employee Resource Group (ERG).

At the 2021 Faith@Work Conference, Alison Taylor, Chief Customer Officer at American Airlines, announced two business class American Airlines tickets to Dare to Overcome in Tokyo would be given to a person at one of the conference companies based on a nomination of a colleague from the company with a disability.


American Airlines is the official airline of Dare to Overcome, a Global Faith-and-Belief Oriented ERG festival in support of peace and people with disabilities, held in tandem with the Paralympic Games. At American Airlines, their purpose is to care for people on life’s journey – a mission that extends beyond the airline and into the communities they serve.


Dacia Cross, nominated her colleague, Justin Greene, for the award.

“I cannot be more proud at this moment, on the behalf of 100,000 American Airlines Employees, to present this to you … truly a model of someone who lives out what it looks like to dare to overcome,” said Fr. Greg McBrayer, Chief Flight Controller for American Airlines, who also serves as a Corporate Chaplain and the Global Lead of the Christian Employees Business Resource Group (CEBRG) at American Airlines.

Justin epitomizes the spirit the global event that celebrates how people with disabilities are not disabled, but instead have different, unique abilities, as Justin so powerfully shares in his acceptance speech.

“We are looking forward to Justin sharing his experiences with the Abilities communities in Japan during Dare to Overcome to be held this August on the eve of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo,” said Brian Grim, Global Chairman of Dare to Overcome and president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. The event will be in-person and virtual so that people and employee resource groups worldwide can participate.

Dare To Overcome: Justin Greene

Nominated by Dacia D. Cross

Justin is a member of my team who has several disabilities: narcolepsy, dyslexia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and suffers from Peripheral Neuropathy.

He has been a major advocate in the inclusion and diversity community. He began the Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Employee Resource Group (ERG) in 2012. He currently leads membership efforts for the national PwD ERG, growing the group from 400 to close to 2,000 members across the U.S. today. He has spoken as a panelist, representing the Narcolepsy community, at the FDA in 2012. He was also a speaker at the Association of Proposal Management Professionals’ (APMP) annual conference in 2016, speaking to businesses and encouraging them to hire people with disabilities.

Justin is also one of the most inclusive and caring managers on my team. He understands that people matter, and he is the servant leader that I can depend on when I have an employee that needs additional supports and careful coaching.

The most compelling thing about Justin is his life journey. He was abandoned by his single mother at age 15 and stayed with friends to finish high school. He went to college, but then symptoms of narcolepsy began to interfere with his education. He had to drop out to join the U.S. Army and was medically discharged three years later because of his disabilities. At each point, he could have given in or given up, but he didn’t. Even today, he is back in school to finish the degree that he started 15 years ago.

I would like to nominate Justin Greene because “Dare to Overcome” is what he is great at, not only for himself, but for those around him too. Thank you for your consideration of this incredible employee!