Growing up on the lower east side of Manhattan, Irv Ashford, Jr.’s life changed when a mentor introduced him to an opportunity to take an exam. His score on the exam led him to earn a scholarship to the Webb School, a boarding school in Bell Buckle, TN. This opened him up to new experiences…
Raised in inner-city Miami, Florida, Rodney C. Adkins was valedictorian of his high school graduating class and would matriculate university at Georgia Tech, where he would earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering; he also earned a bachelor of arts in physics from Rollins College. From 2007-2014, Mr. Adkins was Senior Vice President…
Hailing from Monroe, Louisiana, Thomas Moorehead always wanted to start his own business. While working at the University of Michigan as Director of Community Services, and pursuing his Ph.D. in urban and regional planning, after receiving his B.A. in Business Administration from Grambling State University, his fraternity brother James Bradley of Bradley Automotive Group introduced…
Ken Cowan attended University of Nebraska where he earned a Management degree before beginning his career working in the energy marketing. A merger between his employer and another company, led to him relocating to Houston to work for Enron. This began a long-running career fulfilling various leadership roles in energy marketing and trading, and ultimately…
Bernard Harris was born in Houston, TX, but would move at the age of 6 with his mother to a rural area of New Mexico, where they would reside until they relocated to San Antonio, TX during his high school years. His time in New Mexico engendered in him the desire to become an astronaut,…
Kenny Frank was raised in Chicago, where his father who had a PhD in electrical engineering was employed at Bell Laboratories. An internship opportunity, as a high school student led to his eventual career path, where he would attend and obtain a BS in Computer Science at the University of Southern California. He transitioned from…
Dale Lockett spent the early part of his life moving from place to place due to his father’s career as a Methodist pastor, before his family settled in East Texas. He would attend the University of Houston where he pursued an education in TV production, before embarking on a career behind in the background of…
Shawn Taylor started his career an an auditor for the public accounting firm Arthur Andersen. He later went on to work as a financial advisor, before stepping out on his own when he structured a deal to acquire 19 Taco Bell stores in the Houston area. He would later own a minority stake in the…
Geoff Green grew up in southern California and embarked on a journey that led to a highly successful corporate career in marketing, before he ultimately transitioned to private enterprise where he got involved in the telecommunications business. He ultimately sold his business and now runs a private equity firm that invests in real estate, business…
Mitch Marcel transitioned from a corporate career to becoming an entrepreneur in the field of logistics, where he was a partner and head of operations for a mid-size logistics firm prior to buying out his partners just ahead of the 2008 financial crisis. He would later sell the legacy business, and launch a new business…
