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Dr. Michael Green was born and raised in Indianapolis, IN, but made a conscious decision to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), which landed him at Prairie View A&M University. He returned back to the midwest for medical school, from where he embarked on a surgical residency with a specialty in bariatrics. He subsequently completed a fellowship, and now practices in the Dallas, TX area.
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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 and opportunities and led him to attending Oberlin College in Ohio where he earned his BA in Religion and was a Woodrow Wilson Scholar. Following his master's education, he began to work for a series of local non-profits dedicated to community development. He eventually relocated to Texas and following his graduate business degree he began his banking career with a position in the community development division of Bank One. He has worked for the last 20 years at Comerica Bank, where he now serves as Chief Community Officer.
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In 1991, Shreveport native Perrye Turner, decided to take a chance and leave his job as a Senior Commercial Property Claim Representative at Aetna and enter the FBI as a Special Agent. He now has an accomplished career with over 29 years of service and experience. Perrye has served as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Houston, Texas and Louisville, Kentucky field offices, as well as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Information Technology Engineering Division at FBI Headquarters. In 2014 he was given the Presidential Rank Award, which is given to the top 1% of Senior Executive Leaders in the Federal Government. Perrye is recognized as a transformational leader and visionary, building, and leading high performing teams in all Senior Executive assignments across the Bureau.
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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 of IBM, becoming the company’s first African-American Senior Vice President. He is now Chairman of Avnet, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components and embedded solutions. In addition, he is President of 3RAM Group LLC, a privately held company specializing in capital investments, business consulting services and property management.
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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 him to the car dealership business and took him under his wing. That guidance would be what propelled Thomas to open his first dealership in 1987 and start him on the path to becoming one of the first African Americans to be awarded a new BMW dealership in Sterling, Virginia and THE first African American awarded a full-service Rolls-Royce franchise.
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Xavier Williams was raised in Washington, DC where he was raised by parents who were an educator and entrepreneur. He attended university in Pennsylvania, earning his BS degree in Business Administration and Mathematics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and eventually an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business. He began his career in the telecommunications and technology industries and served in a number of leadership capacities over a 30-year stint at AT&T across multiple disciplines including finance, strategy, sales, product management, global operations, and human resources. In his most recent role as President of AT&T’s Public Sector and FirstNet, Mr. Williams had profit & loss and operational responsibility for a global team of 4,000 professionals responsible for delivering solutions to federal, state, and local government agencies, colleges, universities, and K-12 schools.
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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 transitioning to alternative energy and renewables.
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Charles Willis was raised in Fort Worth, TX, where by the 8th grade he had made a determination that he wanted to become a doctor. After graduating from Texas Christian University (TCU), Charles would attend medical school at the University of Texas Health Center, and a post-doctoral internship at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, TX. He went on to complete his residency at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, in anesthesia and a fellowship in pain management.
Dr. Willis would begin his professional career as an anesthesiologist, before transitioning into a practice primarily focused on pain management, and has run his own private practice over the last 20 years.
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Born and raised in Iowa, Courtney Crawford remained in the midwest where he attend college at Washington University in St. Louis. Following his undergraduate degree, he spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Central America, where he worked at the United States embassy in Panama. He later matriculated medical school at Michigan State, and completed his residency in opthalmology through the US Army. He subsequently completed a retina fellowship, and now practices as a Retina Specialist in the Dallas, TX area.
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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, and after completing his college degree at University of Houston, he gained admission into medical school at Texas Tech University. Following his residency at Mayo Clinic, he would have an opportunity to work in various positions as a researcher at NASA, and while at NASA, he conducted research in musculoskeletal physiology and clinical investigations of space adaptation and developed in-flight medical devices to extend Astronaut stays in space. Following an unsuccessful application for the Astronaut program, he would be offered a position at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and would upon his second application be admitted into the Astronaut corps.
Dr. Harris logged more than 438 hours and traveled over 7.2 million miles in space, and on his 2nd mission would become the first African American to complete a space walk. Following his career as an astronaut, he launched a venture capital firm and the Harris Institute & Foundation. He currently serves as CEO of the National Math + Science Initiative.
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Reuben Shelton was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was a standout high school basketball player recruited to play for the national powerhouse Kansas University Jayhawks. A career-ending injury focused him on his career objective of becoming a lawyer, and following a clerkship with St. Louis' first African American federal circuit court judge, he embarked on a corporate law career at a prominent law firm in St. Louis. He would transition from serving as outside counsel to going in-house and working for a couple of large corporations, including Monsanto where he rose to become the company's lead counsel for litigation. Over the course of his career, Reuben achieved many firsts including becoming the first African American president of The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and of the Missouri Bar Association. He retired in early 2017, and turned his focus to furthering his civic service, and was elected national president of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. in 2019.
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Floyd Newsum was born and raised in Memphis, TN where his childhood gave him a front row seat to the Civil Rights movement, while being reared by an activist father who was part of the city's first crop of Black firefighters. Determined to pursue his love of art from an early age, Floyd pursued his study at the Memphis Academy of Arts, and subsequently obtained his MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. His professional career began when he was offered a faculty position at the University of Houston-Downtown, where he has taught art for over 40 years, while simultaneously pursuing his career as an artist. The hallmark of his career was achieved with his work being selected for exhibition at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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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 USC to pursue his master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, and would embark on his professional career at Bell Labs. His fascinating career took him from Bell Labs to various important roles from Bell South to a startup company and ultimately Alcatel Lucent, where he served in various international roles. He is presently CEO of Aptean, a technology company owned by Vista Equity Partners.
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Roger Mitchell was born and raised in northern New Jersey, where he grew up as the youngest of two children and played football through high school. He completed his undergraduate degree at Howard, before enrolling at and receiving his medical degree from New Jersey Medical School. His triumphant career led him to become at one point the youngest chief medical examiner in the nation at age 36, and he presently serves as the Chief Medical Examiner for Washington, DC.
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Carroll G. Robinson migrated to the United States with his parents at the age of nine, where he would spend his formative years in Patterson, NJ before attending university in southern New Jersey, and ultimately matriculate law school at George Washington University. Upon earning his law degree, he moved to Texas where he embarked on a career that meandered from the practice of law, to working in government, higher education, and eventually holding elected office in the nation's fourth largest city to his current service as chairman of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats.
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The My Brother podcast features interviews of personal biographies of African American men who have accomplished significant achievement in various industries from corporate business and entrepreneurship, to the arts and public service. These stories provide insight into the pathways these individuals have traveled, and important information about factors that contributed to their success. These interviews are cataloged on our website to provide access so that male youth and young professionals can gain insight into the stories of these inspirational leaders and accomplished professionals. My Brother will also provide a network through which our target audience can network and connect with resources that can support and help guide their journey towards success.
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Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Michael Harding began his professional career as a production manager trainee with Anheuser Busch in the 1970's, a journey that will span a nearly four decade tenure with the same company. Michael would rise to become the second African American plant manager in the company's 130 plus year history, and would eventually become Vice President of Operations, and would serve as Executive Vice President until the company's sale to InBev in 2008.
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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 TV programming. He currently serves as Director of Local Programming and Community Marketing for KHOU-TV, Houston's local CBS affiliate.
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Born into a military family in North Texas, Gerald McElvy distinguished himself as a student at the University of Houston, before earning his MBA in Finance and embarking on a career in the energy industry. His storied 33-year career at ExxonMobil is a fascinating one that watched him rise to become the highest ranking African American executive at the company. He capped off his career fulfilling the role of head of the ExxonMobil foundation, and has spent his retirement volunteering on boards of educational institutions, and has recently taken an active role in the political process.
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Shawn Taylor started his career as 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 Houston Astros, which he sold in 2017. Shawn grew up on the south side of Chicago, and was raised by a single mom as one of four boys.
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