I was born at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, to Peggy and William "Willie" Harris, and grew up in Miami, Florida. I am the eldest of three daughters. My parents were hardworking people. My father's three girls were the apple of his eye. My mother ruled with a heavy hand, was a stickler for education and dressed neatly and appropriately whenever we stepped out of our home. Now that I look back on my life, it feels as if our childhood friends looked up to my family, even after my parents divorced and my mother remarried my wonderful stepfather, Clinton Green. My sisters and I all went to college and were very active in high school activities, including intramural sports. Being involved in school and church activities was our ticket to get out and socialize. It was Peggy's rule that if you were breathing and could walk, you were going to be in school and church. In 1972, my parents brought me to Daytona Beach, Florida, to attend Bethune-Cookman College. I completed my studies in 3.5 years and attained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education. After college, instead of teaching, I took employment as an Administrative Assistant in the Personnel Department at Brunswick Corporation in DeLand, Florida. In the late 1970s, Brunswick Corporation was a defense plant that made camouflage nets. The company garnered federal contracts, as well as contracts from U.S. allies throughout the world. After a year, I was promoted to be the Engineering Department's Administrative Assistant and was privy to the detailed specs on how the camouflage nets were made. This information was classified, so a security clearance was necessary. This was quite a learning curve for me, fresh out of college, but I nailed it. In 1976 I decided that it was time to start my teaching career as a business educator and had a few assignments helping students get on the right track, which entailed school-wide discipline. I enjoyed 21 years of educating students. After Vince Carter became the fifth pick in the National Basketball Association's draft in 1998, it took approximately five months to agree the terms on the collective bargaining agreement. During that time, it was one of my tasks to help Vince establish and register his Embassy of Hope Foundation. I became the executive director of this organization, and I remain in this position to date. In addition, I hold the position of chief executive officer of Visions in Flight (VIF), Inc., which is another Vince Carter company. My role with VIF is to oversee many of Vince Carter's business endeavors, including his major personal contributions. Some of the more notable are the Vince Carter Athletic Center on the campus of his high school alma mater, Mainland High School and the Vince Carter Sanctuary, which is the home of Project Warm-- a residential behavioral substance abuse rehabilitation center for women. This facility includes the Michelle Carter-Scott Multipurpose Building. Vince Carter's Lettermen's Lane is located next to the Dean E. Smith Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina. Vince Carter's Restaurant, for 6 years, was one of the finest restaurants in the Daytona Beach, FL, area. It was my job to purchase the property, oversee the architectural design of the building, layout and interior design; and supervise the day-to-day operations of the restaurant.
