Our Origin Story
What started as a vision of financial legacy became a family-led mission grounded in faith and purpose.
Foundation Story
Since I was a teenager, God had created a purpose led pursuit towards creating generational wealth. This pursuit was never rooted in me desiring a lavish lifestyle, but to create opportunities for my family members and the ones to come. If you know me directly, I’m sure you are aware that in the past as I was learning and developing my relationship with God, when I would get an idea or inspiration from Him, I’d create a complete path based off the knowledge I currently had to make the idea a reality. This led to a lot of self-inflicted disappointment that would at times create distance with my communications with God. During this phase, I started to lose sight of being able to create generational wealth through my own means and effort. I still had this longing for setting up the future generations though, I just couldn’t see a path to make it happen. Two years ago, God led me down a path of learning about whole life insurance. This understanding became pivotal because it practically guaranteed that my line would be financially secure once I passed away by making the Fowlkes Family Trust the beneficiary of my life insurance payout. From learning this one thing, He proceeded to map out a way, through whole life insurance that could sustain the Trust, while allowing the members of the family, who the insurance would be in the name of, to be able to loan against the policy for needs such as college tuition, trade school education, or business ideas that needed funding. This could all happen for less than $100/month, on a policy started when a new child is born into the family, and the only caveat would be that the parents of the child would pay this premium until the child was 18 years old, at which point, the interest from the policy would cover the monthly premium cost. We were secured, whether I became successful or not!
I sat in awe for a bit just reminiscing on how all of this has transpired in such a short time. I started to think, “Man how did I get here?” God started to reveal where the original yes came from. He revealed how the faith I was walking in had a deeper foundation. My father and my uncle both have black owned businesses that they have been running for over a decade. Growing up and seeing two black men, close in my life, run and operate successful businesses year after year, developed an understanding in me that God could do that. When He finally put that mandate on me when I was a teenager, it didn’t take much for me to say “Yes, God, I believe you,” because I saw that example in front of me daily. I sat back and chewed on the bomb God just dropped on me. It made complete sense. Because of my father and uncle, my dreams got to start at owning a business. Starting a business didn’t have to be the dream itself because they both already blazed a trail, in faith, that I got to observe firsthand.
A Conversation with God
While digesting that, I asked God, “Well where did my father and uncle get their inspiration from? How did they come to own a business? No one had owned a business, from my knowledge, before them in our family. Whose faith did they get to see?” Soon as I finished the thought, He showed me my grandmother, Dorothy E. Fowlkes. woman, raising two black boys, in Temple Hills, MD, and they both graduated undergrad, got post grad degrees, and my Uncle Bill owns The Fowlkes Law Firm, a successful law firm, while my father, Daryl Fowlkes owns Inseam Technology, a successful engineering consulting firm. As I am reflecting, it’s hitting me like a ton of bricks how hard and difficult that had to have been if I were in my grandmother’s position. The odds were not stacked in her favor. Then God drops another bomb. “That’s where your father and uncle got their faith foundation. Your grandmother’s faith while raising them! The proof is in the result.” I remember the only words I could say as tears are streaming down my eyes is “Wow”. The Faithfulness of God will always leave you speechless. From there, He points out how education was big for my grandmother. She also graduated with her undergrad degree. He then says, “Your foundation will give a scholarship this year.” At this point, if I had received any more revelation at one moment, my head would have exploded.
Faith Legacy Timeline
Finally, he gave me a vision of the board members He wanted involved in the Foundation: Leah Fowlkes (sister), Deneen Fowlkes (mom), William Fowlkes (uncle), and Daryl Fowlkes (father). Now, remember, I hadn’t made a dollar through my business at this point. I thought it would be CRAZY to talk to my family about this idea with no way to see it forward. God kept saying “Do not rob them of their yes.” So I have to look crazy… got it. Either way, I talked to each family member separately, told them the idea, and every single member was on board.
Grandmother’s faith (Dorothy E. Fowlkes)
Father & Uncle as entrepreneurs
The “Yes” moment from God
Family board members joining
Foundation Vision
The Fowlkes Foundation was born out of obedience, vision, and family faith. Our mission is to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth—through giving, education, and impact.