Al Harrison Jr.
Data Collection Team Leader and Board Member
Al Harrison is a founder of Invisible Hurdle, a boutique consulting, executive services and coaching firm. A native of Richmond, Virginia and the oldest of three siblings, Al developed an early commitment to and intellectual fascination with social justice, especially in regard to people of African descent in impoverished and underserved communities. As a student at Richmond Community High School, he worked in programs to help young men in his community develop a positive self image while learning about their culture and history. While an undergraduate at Harvard University, he studied African American Studies and History, shoring up the intellectual framework. Al also continued his work in the community, teaching multicultural education to middle school children in Boston-area housing projects. After graduating in 1996, he studied African diaspora history and comparative salary at Yale University, and, following a year at Harvard Law School, transferred to Yale Law to consolidate his graduate studies and join his college sweetheart. Al’s legal study focused on constitutional law, anti-discrimination, theories of justice, educational policy and criminal law and policy. After graduate school, Al worked at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison
Prior to founding Invisible Hurdle, Al worked as an independent consultant, including consulting on educational policy and school design for the New York City Department of Education. Al takes much pride in being a father and has served as the primary caretaker for his three sons, two 12 year olds and a 20-year old college student. He lives with his wife (the aforementioned college sweetheart!) and the boys in Brooklyn, New York. Al is a lifelong martial artist in addition to a scholar, and is a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu under Marcelo Garcia, widely recognized as one of the greatest competitors and instructors in jiu jitsu history.