FAMU grad Marvin Wilmoth is running for Harbor Island Commissioner
We communicated with HBCU Grad Marvin Wilmoth who is running for North Bay Village's Harbor Island commissioner about his campaign. Below are excerpt from our conversation.
HBCU GRAD: Tell us about your upbringing
Marvin Wilmoth: I was born on the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville and raised in South Florida by my mother, a retired Spanish teacher, and father, an Army and Navy Veteran, both of whom immigrated to the United States in the 60's from Honduras in Central America. From a young age my parents stressed the importance of education and community service. Those values are what have driven me to get a B.S. and MBA from Florida A&M University as well as a M.S. from Columbia University in New York. I grew up as the eldest of 3 with a younger sister (also a FAMU graduate) and brother and I am the first in my family to earn a graduate degree.
Tell us about your HBCU experience
I consider choosing to attend Florida A&M University to be one of the best and most influential decisions of my life. The year I stepped foot on the highest of seven hills, Florida A&M University had just been named Time Magazine Princeton Review "College of the Year" with an incoming class full of national merit scholars. The familial environment was incredibly supportive and encouraged growth and exploration of campus and community life. In addition to leadership of the student run companies at the School of Business and Industry, I was also involved in student government, community service with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and the civic activism that is ingrained in the student history of all HBCUs. The network of friends and family I have from my time at FAMU and relationships with other HBCU grads has been invaluable throughout my personal life and professional career.
Tell us about your political career
This is my first time running for publicly elected office and it has been challenging and exciting to learn the intricacies of running a campaign. Having been Vice Chair of the Planning and Zoning Board for the last 4 years as well as he Vice Chair of the Charter Review Board, I decided to run in part because of a desire to continue to give back to my community in the form of public service. My passion is transformative community development and formed Generation Development Group to help address the need for the development of mixed-use, inclusion housing throughout the united states.
How can one support
The kind of grassroots campaign we are running is totally dependent on you, the electorate, to make their voice heard through monetary donations and activating your networks. Sharing the website to your networks and liking/following us on social media is extremely helpful to building a coalition regardless of your geographic location. Also, every penny counts and any donation you can make helps us show strength and allows us to spend the dollars necessary to run an effective campaign. Additional details are available on the website at www.marvinwilmoth.com. Please follow and like us on Facebook @MarvinforNBV and Instagram at wilmothmarvin.
