OUR TEAM – The Two Six Project

FOUNDER & PRESIDENT

Grant Bennett is an Atlanta-based social impact strategist and consultant.

At Google, Grant helps lead the organization’s racial equity commitments by spearheading strategy and partnerships for Google’s Minority Serving Institutions work stream. In conjunction, Grant co-founded LEADLabs, a think tank & incubation pod for Google LEAD team’s moonshots, external content, and special projects.

Grant has worked as a consultant and producer for the National Football League, HBOMax, and Morehouse College. Also, he is the Creator and Executive Producer for the Adobe AMPED content series, an intentional collaboration for the next generation of creators to tell various stories and develop in-depth business concepts, impactful creative direction, and measurable strategy outcomes through Adobe. In addition, Grant manages community partnerships & social impact initiatives for NBA Point Guard Dennis Smith Jr. and social media influencer Vic Blends.

His chief passion lies within his work as founder and president of The Two-Six Project. This nonprofit has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for marginalized young people through exposure and programming in his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The nonprofit has partnered with brands such as Nike, Dreamville, Bank of America, Charlotte Hornets, and Google to provide transformational experiences for children throughout North Carolina.

Grant’s work has been recognized by Forbes and President Bill Clinton. Grant is a Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation HBCU Ambassador, member of the 2021 Nike Yardrunner 2.0 cohort, HBCU Buzz 30 Under 30, 2023 ADCOLOR FUTURES program, and recipient of the 2023 North Carolina Governor’s Volunteer Service Award. He is a proud native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and a graduate of Morehouse College where he starred on the Maroon Tigers Baseball team.

Isaiah Bennett

Co-Founder

Cobie Vance

Co-Founder & Organizational Advisor/Partner

Dennis Smith Jr

Founder of Smithway & Organizational Advisor/Partner

ORGANIZATIONAL ADVISORS

Victor “VicBlends” Fontanez

Organizational Advisor/Partner

The Board of Directors

Brandon Nixon is a Fayetteville native who graduated from Pine Forest High School. Upon graduating high school, Brandon received his BA in Philosophy UNC Charlotte as a Levine Scholar. At UNCC, Brandon was actively involved in the Student Government Association, where he served as class president for three consecutive years. Brandon currently works as a creative strategist Google ! In addition to his core work at Google, Brandon manages creative projects for brands such as Netflix, Footaction & f.mercystudios!

BRANDON NIXON

Dr. David Wall Rice is Professor of Psychology at Morehouse College. He is also Principal Investigator of the Identity, Art and Democracy Lab, a research space that explores expressions of identity balance through engagement, the exploration of varied contexts and personal narratives. Rice frequently applies his research to cultural criticism. Dr. Rice graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and With Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University,. He then earned a Doctorate in Personality Psychology from Howard University.

DR. DAVID WALL-RICE

Marva Moore is the Owner & Broker of LucasMoore Realty/Property Management, Inc. in Fayetteville, NC. Marva has served as a pillar in the Fayetteville area for decades. She is the Owner and CEO of Michae's Hair Salon in Fayetteville. She also serves as the Founder of the Hoops and Dreams Showcase, an annual basketball tournament hosted to showcase high school basketball talent. Marva is also the President of her own non-profit organization, Community Heartbeats. She is a proud graduate of Fayetteville State University.

MARVA MOORE

Rondell Bennett works as the chair of the Early Childhood Education Department at Fayetteville Technical Community College. Dr. Bennett has over 20 years in early childhood education through her time with HeadStart and in higher education. Aside from her role at FTCC, she also teaches early childhood courses at Purdue University and the University of Mount Olive . Dr. Bennett graduated from Winthrop University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and earned a Doctorate of Education degree in Early Childhood Development.

DR. RONDELL BENNETT

Eric Anderson is the Owner of the Anderson Realty Group. Previously he was the Managing Broker for the branch office of Prudential PenFed Realty in Fayetteville, NC. Eric enlisted and served four years in the US Army in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate as a Paralegal. Eric is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated. In addition he also teaches in the business department at Fayetteville State University. He earned a Bachelors of Business Administration with a minor in Computer Information Systems from Saint Leo University. Followed by earning a Master of Business Administration from Fayetteville State University.

ERIC ANDERSON

Jaconna Jacobs has been in the creative industry since 2015 . Jaconna started a blog in 2015 called Everything Boisterous where she catered light to rising creatives and individuals who embodied unique streetwear style and represented their field of creativity boldly and unapologetically. Jaconna started working for the footwear brand Adidas at the age of 22 working with the likes of Beyonce, Pharrell, Yara Shahidi, and Iddris Sandu while advocating for Black people and Black stories in between. Her passion and purpose continues to revolve around helping individuals ,pushing innovative ideas, and embracing her own perspective versus assimilating into a box to be accepted.

JACONNA JACOBS

BETH SHEARIN SMITH

TONETTE JOHNSON

VALERIE KEYS

KEITH PARKER

KWAME MOLDEN

The Executive Board

MARC SOMAR

Executive Director

JORDAN NASH

Director of Technology, Systems, & Operations

KENDALL MCCLUNEY

Director of People, Culture & Community

Janae Aiken

Director of Emerging leaders program

Elijah Cox

Emerging Leaders Program Assistant

Issiah McLean

Media Lead

Brittany Jenkins

Arts Director

Sabir Rashid

Smithway Program Director

Dorian Goodson

Compliance Manager

GET INVOLVED

If you’re interested in partnership with the Two-Six Project please follow the links below!

THE TWO- SIX PROJECT