Matthew Gilbert: Devotion to servant leadership runs in his family

Leadership in service has been a part of his family for generations.

His great-grandfather was Dr. Lee Furgerson, the first Black physician in Waterloo. His great-grandmother, Lily Ferguson, was a leading Waterloo educator and had a child care center named for her.

His grandfather, Dr. Warren Nash, followed in Dr. Ferguson’s footsteps in medicine and social activism. His grandmother, Martha Nash, was very active at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center during its early stages, providing job training and others skills to socially and economically disadvantaged persons.

His great-aunt, Betty Jean Furgerson, was the longtime director of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights and was a member of the state’s Board of Regents, which oversees public universities.

His great-uncle was Dr. Percy Harris, a Waterloo native who became the longtime Linn County medical examiner and was very active in social issues in Cedar Rapids.

In short, Gilbert has a lot of angels on his shoulders. And he’s striking out to make a difference in his own right.

The 36-year-old is a graduate of East High School and attended Simpson College in Indianola and Drake University law school in Des Moines. He practices law in Waterloo and Des Moines and is founder and CEO of MRG and Associates, LLP.

“The work is real transformational that I’m in,” Gilbert said. “Sometimes it’s law; sometimes it’s well-being, emotional well-being; sometimes it’s politics; sometimes it’s policy, a lot of tax policy. Tax planning is my primary activity for my firm. I work with a lot of business start-ups.”

He’s part of the Black Business and Entrepreneurship Accelerator, a component of the 24/7 Black Leadership Advancement Consortium (24/7 BLAC). The initiative was launched by a number of Black professionals in the Cedar Valley to economically uplift the minority community and overall community image. He’s served as a mentor and adviser in that effort.

“It’s been an exciting effort. A lot of TLC,” he said. “We’re building curriculum, we’re facilitating workshops. I’m also working with some of the entrepreneurs, helping them to gain access to professional services,” including legal services.

He’s been a practicing attorney for eight years. “A lot of my clients are legacy clients. They own everything from real estate to business infrastructure, to money assets to collectible assets. A lot of times these are first-generation wealth builders. We’re really planning to make sure these businesses have something they can pass to the second generation.”

He’s involved with the Waterloo Youth City Council, made up of representatives from the city’s high schools to discuss issues relevant to young people. He’s also a member of the Waterloo Historic Preservation Commission and involved with a group, the 415 Walnut Collective, working on a plan for reusing and restoring the historic 115-year-old Walnut Street Baptist Church at East Park Avenue and Walnut Street.

Through Drake University, he was part of a global fellowship to the People’s Republic of China. He lived there six months. “I studied Chinese law, Chinese business and global policy, as well as learning some simple Mandarin (language),” he said. He’s since been involved in some additional cultural exchanges.

Despite having an international perspective, he decided to blaze a trail for himself and others in his hometown of Waterloo. His international lessons have local applications.

“One of the things you learn is that race – the skin color – is an opportunity to invite, to get to know someone, rather than as a barrier,” he said. “A lot of times we look at it here as a barrier – ‘I can’t get to know you because your lived experiences don’t look like mine.’ Whereas going to other countries, building friendships with those nations, it’s actually an invitation to tell your story.

“And that’s part of the reason I was motivated to come back” to Iowa and Waterloo, Gilbert said. “Because I was telling my story on a global level. I can’t say I’m doing good works around the globe, being a global citizen, and unwilling to do the work in my own back yard. That was a part of coming back – making sure I can connect Waterloo with the global community.

“Building bridges is something you find is so much easier to do when you disregard race as an issue and treat it as an asset. Those are lived experiences you may not have, and get to learn.”

Being back in town also allowed him to reconnect to his family roots and history of service in Waterloo.

“I used to watch my grandmother (Martha Nash) put on a prostheses every day, hop or jump down the stairs, to go and employ maybe 10 Black women at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, teaching everything from typing skills to computer skills,” he said. “I grew up at UNI-CUE (the University of Northern Iowa Center for Urban Education), the Martin Luther King Jr. Center. All the time. I can remember Ada Tredwell forcing me to learn how to type,” on a typewriter.

Gowri Guwaldi, who works with Gilbert as part of the 415 Walnut Collective, nominated him for the 20 Under 40 recognition.

“Matthew is an extremely kind, considerate, and giving person who cares deeply about every single person in his community, especially the youth – our future,” said the UNI professor of interior design. “Matthew is our fearless leader in this effort, always bringing relevant people into the conversation, ensuring and holding firm that without community input and consensus, nothing can move forward.”

“Matthew was born to lead. His family has always taught him about giving back to his community and servant leadership,” said co-nominator Sharina Sallis, who is also involved with 24/7 BLAC and works at CUNA Mutual in Waverly. “Matthew is one of the individuals that you want on your team to help you move your project forward as he often is the person who thinks about who is missing from the table and invites them to participate.”