Marcus Martin, PhD, MPH, MA We should not be driven by our fears; we should be driven by dreaming the impossible and doing the unthinkable... Organization: Education Is Freedom Location: Dallas, Texas Website: www.educationisfreedom.org

Biography:
Dr. Marcus Martin is the President and CEO of Education is Freedom—a national non-profit organization that is located in Dallas, Texas. Education is Freedom (EIF) strives to remove the economic obstacles to higher education by providing college scholarships to young people who are overlooked by traditional scholarship programs. Since 2002, Education Is Freedom has provided more than $6 million in renewable scholarships to first generation college attendees across the country.

Education is Freedom’s Board members include David Biegler, CEO of Estrella Energy, Rafael Anchia, Representative, Texas House of Representatives, Al Bru, Retired Vice Chairman of PepsiCo Inc., August A. Busch, IV, President and CEO of Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Stedman Graham, Chairman and CEO of S. Graham & Associates, Inc., James W. Keyes, Chairman and CEO of Blockbuster, Inc., Mike Moses of PlainsCapital Corporation, Jeffrey Rich, Retired CEO of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., Joe Vonder Haar, VP of Convenience Store Sales for Anheuser-Busch, Inc., and Colleen Walker, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas.

Prior to joining Education is Freedom, Dr. Martin served as Director of the J. McDonald Williams Institute. Dr. Martin also has an academic appointment as a faculty member in the School of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Dr. Martin is an expert in the areas of economic mobility, race relations, health disparities and evaluation research.

Dr. Martin, a first generation college graduate, received his bachelor’s degree in education and his master’s degree in criminal justice from Northeast Louisiana University, followed by his PhD in applied statistics and urban sociology from Howard University, and then a Master of Public Health degree with concentrations in epidemiology and community health from the University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health.

Dr. Martin is a frequent guest speaker across the country on a number of issues ranging from the academic achievement gap, student athletes, race relations, non-profit leadership and organizational effectiveness, African American history, urban youth culture, economic mobility and poverty, and health disparities. He is the author of the forthcoming book, The Blessing of the Burden, which discusses his life of growing up in an impoverished, single family home in Louisiana.

Availability:
Available as a speaker and consultant.