As the Founder and President of the non-profit organization, iN Education Inc., DeAndre’ L. Nixon has over two decades worth of experience founding several other ventures as an entrepreneur. In addition to iN Education Inc., he started a special events production company located in Seattle, Washington, as well as launching the consulting firm, Proficient Pro. DeAndre’ continues to be responsible for the day-to-day operations of each company. He graduated with a BA in Management from the University of Washington and achieved an Entrepreneur MBA at Baldwin-Wallace College. During his time in Seattle, DeAndre’ created and designed art-related products for the bi-annual event, Seattle Fashion Week. As a curator for seven consecutive years, he worked with photographers, videographers, fashion designers, make-up artists, and hair stylists. He was also responsible for designing the sets and selecting both cast and crew members. DeAndre’s perseverance and esteemed leadership in collaborative community efforts modeled teamwork and overall success. After returning to Akron, Ohio, DeAndre shifted his focus to philanthropy activities that centered around education. His goal was to offer programs and services that would benefit the community he grew-up in through various ways. Thus, the inception of iN Education started with Scholooza and teaching secondary level youth the art of special events production. Since then, youth participants have continued to be directly involved in instituting various events throughout the years for their community. All while obtaining the hard-and-soft skills needed for success in all industries. Expanding on these efforts, DeAndre’ increased iN Education’s portfolio of programs to include an educational e-publication, Zealousness; designed additional industry modules for the Scholooza career exploration program; and started the competitive art program, Battle of the Teal 4EDU. With his strong community involvement, DeAndre’ is successful in maintaining and continuously growing relationships with other community organizations, families, grant foundations, and corporate organizations throughout NEO. He prosperously established the partnership with the Polaris Career Center which now offers two of iN Education’s career modules, Business Administration and Event Planning. DeAndre’ was born and raised in Akron, Ohio where he graduated from Garfield High School. He then went on to join the US Navy immediately after graduation, courageously fought in the Persian Gulf War, and was honorably discharged.