Geoffrey Rowan
PRESIDENT
YPN Board
My name is Geoffrey Rowan. A big part of my life is my family. My parents, Jerome and Rochelle Rowan, and my brother, Kelvin, along with my very large extended family that exceeds 100 cousins. I am a graduate of Northwestern University with BS in Political Science and a minor in Business. Upon graduation I was drafted into professional baseball by the Tampa Bay Rays. Baseball always allowed me the opportunity to grow, lead, and develop strong relationships with people from all walks of life. I became conversational in Spanish and gained another family, which is the baseball brotherhood.
Since leaving baseball, I spent time as a coach of the Naperville Renegades and then went back to school to obtain my MBA from the University of Miami. Miami has been another opportunity to expand my business awareness and network, as well as offer new opportunities to give back to the community.
As the President of the Overtown Youth Center’s YPN, I am excited to provide more knowledge and create more opportunities for the youth and families of Overtown. I have been able to see first hand that the OYC has in the community and I am excited to be apart of it.
Eric Douglass
I am was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. I spent less than 4 years as a child in Amsterdam. I used to speak fluent Dutch as well. I attended school at Shenandoah University, where I studied Biology, with a concentration in Pre-Med. I participated in collegiate football and lacrosse for 2 years. After graduating with a BS in 4 years, I looked at attending a few medical schools. A week before I was scheduled to take the MCAT, I learned the rule of 72, compound interest. It was at that moment, that I opted not to attend Medical School. I thought to myself, I would be better to earn interest, then to pay it. I started my entrepreneurial career, soon after. A number of years later, after traveling the country, some successes and plenty of lessons in between, which some would label “failures”, I moved to Miami. I now resided in Miami and have done so, for over 5 years. I currently own and operate a successful commodities brokerage business, with my business partner, Alain Mazaira. We have engage and will continue to engage, in a plethora of different commodity transactions. Ranging from corn, real estate, diamonds, precious stones, hemp, oil/jet fuel, gold and financial instruments, just to name a few. We have a vast network of individuals, from all walks of life, that we engage with on a daily basis.
I currently sit on the board of my father’s online ministry. Since launching 11 months ago, we have adopted 60 churches in Africa, under our “organization”, with many many more to come. Along with Alain, I have taken it upon myself to head the acquisition of necessary funds for the ministry. There is a lot of need for humanitarian efforts, all around the world, including here in the US. I am simply wanting to do my part.
As a board member at YPN, I believe I will bring, a vast amount of experience and knowledge to the organization. Being 38, you tend to learn a thing or two over the years. I am always wanting to surround myself around other like minded individuals, so I can further my own personal growth and pass on my own wisdom. The younger generations coming up, need to utilize the knowledge of the previous generations. It’s valuable information, that should not be forgotten or squandered. I believe our communities are in serious need of assistance and stimulation. We cannot and should not wait for governments to help and/or assist, in our communities.
I have a passion to help those in need. I made a promise to myself, to ALWAYS be better than, the day before. Thank you and YPN for your time and consideration. I look forward to meeting you at the next event.
Alain Mazaira
My family came to this country from Cuba, and I believe seeing what they did in this country helped shape the man I am today. I am fluent in Spanish and English. Spanish was my first language and I learned English when I started attending school. I have a high propensity for learning languages, as throughout my father’s life he has spoken 7 languages. I attended Belen Jesuit, a private high school in Miami. I then went to F.I.U. and a few other smaller colleges, to pursue football. After my time in college ended, I was invited to try out for many football organizations in Europe, Canada and the United States, eventually signing with a professional football team in St. Petersburg, FL. After a brief time with that organization, I realized that my passions lie outside of football and decided to become an entrepreneur. Over the years, I have begun multiple businesses and create a vast network of like-minded business individuals. Along with my business partner Eric Douglass, we have been able to leverage our networks to gain entry to industries that have traditionally had very high barriers to entry, and created D & M Global Acquisitions, LLC. As well, I sit as Chairman of Davidson Single Family Trust.
Lyndon Gray
Since 2005, Lyndon Gray has used media and arts to service his community. He offers expertise in production, marketing, and brand development. He graduated from Howard University with a major concentration in Media Production and a minor in Business Administration. His experience includes iHeart Media, Sirius XM radio, KSHE 95, 105.7 the point, and Hot 97 in New York as Angie Martinez assistant. In Washington DC, 2009, Gray began to build his brands, Erace The Hate and Eracism Clothing. Eracism is a clothing line promoting social awareness and equality. Erace The Hate is a community organization focused on using arts and media to demonstrate the concept of Eracism.
An advocate for the social enterprise model, Lyndon’s brand Eracism donates proceeds to support community programming provided by Erace The Hate. In 2018, Erace The Hate launched the ARTrepreneur 101 program teaching media production and basic entrepreneurship as STEAM enrichment for inner-city youth.
Lyndon Gray is also music artist. He has been playing saxophone since age 9, and he fuzes hip-hop with jazz interpretation to make conscious music. Performing as Marcano Sax, Lyndon leverages his music and entrepreneurial spirit to connect his brands with new audiences. As a founder of the ARTrepreneur 101 program, Lyndon uses media production to teach students brand development, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. He has performed across the Midwest, East Coast, and is currently exploring his South Florida home base. Establishing great relationships with some of Miami’s world changers, Lyndon has found a unique way to apply his diverse skillsets to better serve the community.
