“Maurice’s passion for community and youth development is what attracted me to him from our first meeting. I think he will be a great asset to the AAEA’s vision and mission,” said Leslie Giscombe, Founder/CEO AAEA.
Maurice is a mentor, inventor, author, career coach and non-profit founder from Jacksonville, Florida who attended the University of Florida (UF), Florida A&M University (FAMU) and Santa Fe College. Maurice is pursuing his Master of Science in Family, Youth and Community Sciences with a nonprofit concentration.
With a career life made up of working as a Mentor/Career Coach for over 1,000+ youth ages 15 – 26 throughout the US., Canada, Europe, Africa, and South America, his innovation, positivity and compassion have all earned him a reputation as a thought leader. As an avid scholar, he has made it his mission to empower others on their personal and professional journey, to ensure they pave their way to fulfillment. Maurice is also a father of two and in his free time enjoys public speaking, Muay Thai kickboxing, snowboarding, golf, running and working towards his pilot’s license. Plus he loves to cook and is an ultimate foodie that enjoys a wide variety of cuisines. Maurice is also well traveled having visited 15 different countries and completing 2 U.S. coast to coast treks. He has a heart of service and has obtained 1,000+ volunteer hours throughout Florida, North Carolina, and California.
Maurice is here to revive the spirit of the black economy, entrenching the AAEA as the heartbeat of the community by reestablishing the human connection, lost from COVID, and quality customer service we all enjoy from business-to-business relationships.
Maurice’s strengths in efficient creative development, planning, and implementation of long – and short-term strategic plans, goals, and objectives for the association will help to grow, educate, and nurture the ecosystem. Maurice is responsible for building and executing partnerships with startups and small businesses for economic and community growth. This includes overall ecosystem and community development through a range of activities such as recruiting startups, onboarding new members, and enabling minority businesses. Through evaluating performance and effectiveness of current services, programs, and systems in relation to growing economic development needs throughout the county and state, he will work as a cohesive member of the AAEA team to identify and implement needed changes, modifications and/or enhancements to elevate the AAEA.
The Future:
With his devotion to social impact issues that include family, youth, education, athletics and as a business mentor for aspiring entrepreneurs, Maurice brings much experience and understanding to his newly appointed position as the Community Development Director for the African American Entrepreneurship Association (AAEA).
