UNC Charlotte alum and longtime supporter Demond T. Martin, an investor and philanthropist, has joined the Obama Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Martin ’97 is a partner at Adage Capital Management in Boston, where he has invested in the consumer sector for nearly 20 years. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an accounting degree from UNC Charlotte.
“I firmly believe in the transformative power of education and the work the Obama Foundation is doing to provide leadership training and resources to influence positive change in communities,” said Martin. “President Obama’s belief that we cannot wait for change but rather that we are the change, emboldens me for the path ahead and the investments I will make in this important work.”
In 2016, Martin joined with Karen Popp ’80 to make a generous gift to the University and the student union was officially named the Karen A. Popp and Demond T. Martin Student Union.
Martin also served in the Clinton White House as assistant to Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, and as a member of the UNC Charlotte Foundation Board. He and his wife Kia have focused their philanthropic efforts on addressing the gaps created by racial and social injustice, with emphasis in education and healthcare.
Through their family foundation, Demond and Kia Martin have engaged in many initiatives, including the Martin Scholars at UNC Charlotte, the King Boston memorial, the Tonia Taylor Fund for Health Equity at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and the BSI program at Berklee College of Music. Demond is currently a trustee of the Berklee College of Music and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
He joins Connie Ballmer, philanthropist and civic activist, as the newest members of the Obama Foundation board.
“So much of what we do centers around strengthening our communities, supporting young leaders, and forging connections — all values that Connie and Demond exhibit through their philanthropic efforts and corporate endeavors,” Foundation CEO David Simas said in the Aug. 7 announcement. ”Their respective backgrounds in strategic community investment will be an immense benefit to the Foundation.”
The Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center; runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance, a program Barack Obama began while he was president; and operates a scholarship program through the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy.