Born in Jamaica, Keon Reid has grown into a vibrant and dynamic motivational teacher whose goal is to empower today’s youth to become their best selves. Known for his jovial temperament and love for competition, Keon naturally gravitates to forming new relationships. He has earned his Master of Science in Computational Chemistry from Emory University and now works as a Capture Marketing Professional (Proposal Manager) at First Data, the world’s largest merchant acquirer and payment processor.

Throughout his studies, Keon has published his research in scientific journals, spoken at local and national conferences and received many awards, with his most notable being the National Science Foundation GRFP Fellowship, one of the nation’s most prestigious graduate honors. Keon has also served on numerous boards; he was voted on as the youngest sitting member of his church’s Executive Board at the age of 23. With years of teaching and involvement in STEM, Keon is dynamically positioned to speak to students at different levels from K-12 and in higher education. He recently had the honor of speaking as the convocation speaker at the 2018 Honors College Convocation at Georgia State University, his alma mater.

Keon believes that this generation is uniquely positioned to influence their world at large through the right decisions. With the wealth of resources at hand, he encourages the necessity to leverage opportunities and resources to achieve both personal and communal success and channel our efforts and time in meaningful ways to empower our communities. In his chapter, Keon will chronicle his personal story and identify specific tools and skills young men have at hand, not only to become individuals of influence, but to make lasting impacts whereby they leave a legacy through harnessing their potential.

On a personal note, Keon is married to his wife Kishauna for almost three years. He is an avid Los Angeles Lakers and Bayern Munich fan. In addition, he is a Youth Leader and relishes traveling to meet new people and experience the different flavors of culture.