Community Building

Malik Yoba

Founder & CEO Yoba Development

Although this Hollywood veteran offers over three decades of commitment to the arts with over fifty film credits and more than a dozen lead roles in network/cable television series, he considers himself a community and youth advocate first. Born in the South Bronx and raised in Harlem, it was his debut in the 1993 Disney classic Cool Runnings and his performance as NYPD Detective J.C. Williams in the groundbreaking nineties police drama, New York Undercover, that catapulted Malik into the fabric of American culture. A serial entrepreneur, he is the founder and CEO of Yoba Development Yoba Development a diversified portfolio company specializing in real estate, education, and media. As a mission-driven firm, they are committed to building human capacity through education and media while simultaneously pursuing sustainable, affordable and market rate mixed-use development projects in transitioning neighborhoods. Yoba Development has active real estate projects in New York, Baltimore, Augusta GA, Chicago and Charleston. In 2022, Malik received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Livingstone College.

Leah Toler (Moderator)

1Y Student Columbia Business School