As Chief Operating Officer for the ACLU of Michigan, Bill Greene is a study in contrasts.
His job involves a lot of uninspiring bean counting and paper work. He makes sure budgets are balanced, bills get paid, the alarm system is working, there are enough parking spaces for a growing staff, the computer system isn’t crashing — and all the many things that keep an office open and working smoothly. Given his resume, which includes being a Ford Motor Company executive, owner of market research consulting firm and, most recently, interim executive director at Equality Michigan, Bill’s ability to handle all his responsibilities with apparent ease isn’t at all surprising.
The contrast is that Bill is the antithesis of some boring guy in a gray flannel suit. If he could be described with just one word, that word would be "gregarious." Go with Bill anywhere in Detroit, and the chances are very good you will run into people, from all walks of life, who enthusiastically greet him as an old friend. That might be because he believes everyone he encounters, from the person mopping up the bathroom to the CEO running a company, deserves the same degree of enthusiasm and respect. Plus, he just really enjoys engaging in conversation with complete strangers.
Part of what makes him such good company is a slightly twisted sense of humor. He’s been known, for example, to entertain people around the office with his impression of Marvin the Martian, a character once featured in old Loony Tunes cartoons. And when asked to name a favorite song, he cited, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," a lilting, whistling-filled tune sung by a character being crucified in the film Monty Python’s The Life of Brian.