By: Lennard James
In a city defined by entrepreneurship, logistics, construction and an enduring tradition of Black business leadership, Michael Hooks Jr. has established himself as a Memphis executive whose influence extends well beyond the projects his company manages. Through business ownership, civic engagement and community leadership, Hooks has spent much of his professional life helping turn complex ideas into tangible results.
As founder, owner and CEO of Allworld Project Management, Hooks leads a company built around a principle that has guided his career: successful development requires more than vision. It requires planning, discipline, accountability and execution.
Founded in 2010, Allworld Project Management has grown from a Memphis-based entrepreneurial venture into a multidisciplinary operation employing more than 60 full-time professionals and working across multiple states. The company specializes in project and program management involving infrastructure, construction, economic development, and other technically demanding assignments. Its growth has earned national recognition, including placement among the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America.
For Hooks, however, the story is larger than corporate expansion. His professional journey represents the intersection of business, public service and community development.
Hooks earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hampton University, one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities. He later earned an Executive MBA in International Business from the University of Memphis and a graduate certificate in Project Management from Christian Brothers University. He also holds the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential from the Project Management Institute.
That combination of political science, business administration and formal project-management training prepared Hooks for a career requiring him to understand not only construction and development, but also government, budgets, stakeholders and the communities affected by major projects.
His professional experience spans more than 15 years in project management and public affairs, with work involving government relations, construction engineering, program management and business development.
Some of the most recognizable developments in Memphis have intersected with his professional journey.
Hooks’ project experience includes work connected to the NBA arena now known as FedExForum, the Memphis Sewer Consent Decree Program and the Crosstown Redevelopment Project. Projects of this magnitude require coordination among government agencies, engineers, contractors, developers and community stakeholders while maintaining schedules, budgets and regulatory requirements.
That is precisely the environment in which professional project management becomes critical.
Hooks has also demonstrated an entrepreneurial willingness to operate across different sectors. In addition to Allworld Project Management, his business background includes serving as principal of Allworld Properties, focusing on real estate acquisition, development and construction, and principal of MAHjr Company LLC, with involvement in construction and development.
His leadership story, however, began in public service well before Allworld became a recognized Memphis business.
Beginning in 1998, Hooks served as a commissioner on the local Board of Education. The experience placed him directly inside conversations surrounding public education, governance and the future of Memphis children.
He later served as Vice President of Outreach and Special Projects for the Hip Hop Caucus from 2008 to 2010, broadening his experience in civic engagement and public affairs.
Those roles reveal something important about Hooks’ approach to leadership. His career has not existed exclusively inside corporate offices or construction meetings. It has consistently crossed into education, civic organizations, and community institutions.
That commitment remains visible today.
Hooks has served on the board of the Rotary Club of Memphis and as a board vice president with the Memphis Area Minority Contractors Association. His involvement with minority contractors is particularly significant in a city where expanding access to major contracting opportunities can help create businesses, jobs and generational economic capacity.
Hooks is also a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and New Directions Christian Church.
His accomplishments in business have earned significant recognition. In 2017, Allworld received the Memphis Business Journal’s Small Business of the Year recognition. That same year, the company was recognized as Outstanding Business of the Year by the Memphis Area Black Business Association.
Awards tell only part of the story.
The more significant measure is what Allworld’s growth represents. When a locally founded company expands to dozens of employees, competes for complex assignments and establishes a presence beyond its home market, it demonstrates that Memphis businesses can develop the technical expertise and organizational capacity necessary to compete at increasingly higher levels.
That carries particular importance for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Hooks’ career provides an example of how education, professional credentials, relationships and disciplined execution can be combined to create a sustainable enterprise. His progression illustrates that entrepreneurship does not have to be separated from community responsibility. A business can pursue growth while simultaneously contributing expertise, employment and leadership to the city where it began.
Behind the executive and civic leader is also a husband and father. Hooks is married to Kenya Hooks, Esq., and they have two daughters, Morgan and Miranda.
Family, education, community, and entrepreneurship form recurring themes throughout his story.
Memphis is a city filled with ambitious projects and equally complex challenges. Infrastructure must be maintained. Neighborhoods must be redeveloped. Businesses must grow. Public institutions must function effectively. And minority-owned companies must have meaningful opportunities to participate in the economic future being constructed around them.
Michael Hooks Jr. has positioned himself inside that work not simply as someone watching Memphis change, but as someone helping manage that change.
From the classroom and school board to construction sites, boardrooms and multimillion-dollar development initiatives, his career reflects a consistent ability to move between public purpose and private enterprise.
The structures, infrastructure and developments may be the most visible results of project management, but Hooks’ larger contribution may ultimately be measured differently: by the company he has built, the professionals employed through it, the opportunities created around it and the example his journey provides for those who believe a Memphis-born business can compete on a national stage.
Michael Hooks Jr. is building projects. More importantly, he is helping build what comes next for Memphis. Allworld Project Management.
