BOARD PRESIDENT

Steven grew up in a Southern household. While his parents didn’t come from great financial means, they provided a rich inheritance of faith, character, stewardship, generosity and love that he's deeply grateful for to this day. Some of the things that he learned from an early age were the importance of giving, living within my means and saving for a rainy day which were the building blocks to him becoming a millionaire at age 31.

A big turning point came while in college at Clemson when he realized that he could not save my way to wealth; he had to invest! This set him on a path to discover how to make money work for him with the understanding that he would one day help others do the same.

BOARD VICE-PRESIDENT

Mackenzie is a graduate from UNC Greensboro’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. Prior to starting her masters, she worked as an Academic Advisor at an arts high school. In this role she helped young musicians and visual artists on their path to academic and vocational development. Mackenzie is currently completing an internship at Guilford College in their counseling center. She would classify herself as a life-long learner and multi-hyphenate.

Mackenzie earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Wake Forest University. When she isn’t in class or at her internship, she enjoys reading, thrifting, and spending time with friends.

Mackenzie served as MMC’s inaugural employee from April 2022 - December 2023, and is now serving to govern and keep the vision of MMC as a Board Member.

BOARD TREASURER

LaToya Lowery, M.S. (she/her/hers/herself) is from Wilmington, NC and resides in Charlotte NC. She has been in the nonprofit sector for over 20 years doing much work with anything related to grants management, community engagement, event planning, and advocacy. Two popular grants she has had the opportunity to manage is the VITA free tax program. She has led the program in every capacity over the last 20 years and the SNAP Employment and Training grant.

LaToya has held roles with the United Way of Greater Nashville, where she led community impact work, including a focus on SNAP Employment and Training and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs, and now with Prosperity Now as their Senior Program Manager, Network Building. Prior to her work with United Way, she worked with alongside Google at Goodwill Industries International and worked several years improving workforce development in Charlotte and the surrounding areas at Goodwill Industries of Southern Piedmont (GISP) (located in Charlotte).

In addition to serving Money Magnets Club, LaToya is the Vice President of the Board of Directors for Autism Wonders and represents the state of North Carolina as a Volunteer Advocacy Ambassador for Autism Speaks working alongside Congresswoman Alma Adams to create policy around programs for individuals on the autism spectrum. LaToya has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master’s in clinical Mental Health Counseling from Walden University and is working toward a doctorate from Walden University. LaToya loves to spend time with her family, loves to shop, going to the beach, binge watching TV, and fresh and saltwater fishing. She is a die-hard Duke fan and loves sports and westerns.

CO-FOUNDER & BOARD SECRETARY

Teresa Cain is a storycatcher, storyteller, and rescuer of damaged kimonos. (They tell stories, too.) She loves anything that’s finely handcrafted, especially if it’s older than she is. She’s fascinated by mutually beneficial symbiotic relationships in nature. Teresa has an odd gift for recognizing the connections between things and developing professional partnerships based on those connections.

Before working as a children’s librarian at West Boulevard Library, Teresa was an award-winning writer, Montessori teacher assistant, and fast food worker. Her career highlights at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library include standing on the Children’s Theatre stage with 12 young customers when Peter Pan flew, sitting in Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s chair, and co-founding Money Magnets Club.

She’s earned a BS in Business Administration from East Carolina and a Master’s in Library and Information Science from UNC-Greensboro. Dream job: Multi-Millionaire Philanthropist.

BOARD MEMBER

Dana’s not interested in the hustle culture. She is building a balanced, fulfilled life and a business that supports it. And she want to help young entrepreneurs do the same.

BOARD MEMBER

Ayesha Murphy is the owner of natural skin care brand Beary Sensitive. She has grown up around entrepreneurship her entire life by having both parents as entrepreneurs. As a mother she teaches the value of entrepreneurship to her children by having them help in the business.

Professionally she has worked in the utility, retail and finance industries. She is currently working in the finance industry as a consultant who optimizes IT applications, serves as a mentor to six sigma candidates and is a member of the Women in IT networking committee.

Ayesha has a BS in Textile Management from North Carolina State University and an MBA in Marketing from Florida Institute of Technology. When she is not working, she enjoys doing home DIY and interior design projects.

BOARD MEMBER & PRESIDENT-ELECT

Rashaan Peek is Chief of Staff of Charlotte Center City Partners, an organization that envisions and implements strategies and actions to drive the economic, social, and cultural development of Charlotte’s Center City. Rashaan’s experience has given her the skills to develop and manage multi-million-dollar budgets, develop impactful non-profit boards of directors, increase employee morale, and implement sustainable programs.

Mrs. Peek is certified in Nonprofit Management by Duke University, certified in Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace by USF Muma School of Business, certified in Supply Chain Management by Women’s Business Center of Charlotte, and a graduate of the YCombinator Startup School and UNC at Charlotte Ventureprise.

Prior to her work with Charlotte Center City Partners, Rashaan founded Your Girl Inc™ an Executive Management Firm. Rashaan works with small business and nonprofit executives to increase sustainability through strategic planning, leadership development, program and project implementation, digital marketing planning and implementation, and operations creation.

Most recently, Rashaan served as a Consultant Project Director for BlkTech Charlotte/BlkTech Interactive. Her work there aligned with her passion for decreasing the wealth gap through talent recruitment, fundraising, Startup Studio program development, Afrofuturism Event creation, and implementation, Coding and Switching Professional Development, and Networking & Coaching.

Rashaan is a Certified Peer Counselor by the American Association of Mental Health and has been recognized as the 2019 Mentor of the Year by ACHI Magazine for her work with girls and women in the Charlotte area.

Rashaan is Philadelphia-born and Bensalem-bred. She obtained her BA from Georgia State and has lived in Charlotte since December 31, 2004. Mrs. Peek enjoys traveling with her husband, listening to audiobooks, spending time with her children, and eating brunch with her friends.

BOARD MEMBER

Ricky is a Charlotte native. With a Bachelor’s degree from Winston Salem State University and Master’s degree from Webster University, he has proven that education is the foundation upon which dreams are built.

Ricky’s heart is dedicated to his family, and he cherishes every moment spent with them. However, his passion doesn’t stop there. He’s a firm believer in the power of networking, forging connections that lead to incredible opportunities. When he’s not nurturing these relationships, you can often find him on the golf course, exploring new destinations, or simply reveling in the great outdoors.

Entrepreneurship has been ingrained in Ricky’s spirit since childhood. He dedicates most of his spare time to working on his side hustle, continually pushing the boundaries of innovation. To him, entrepreneurship and ownership are not just buzzwords – they are the keys to true freedom and the creation of generational wealth.

Currently, Ricky is thriving in technology, serving as a Scrum Master and Agile Coach. But he doesn’t stop there; he’s a strong advocate for leveraging corporate jobs to propel your dreams as an entrepreneur.