Marie Ferdinand Harris

My journey started in Little Haiti, Miami, where I grew up in one of the worst school districts surrounded by crime, drugs, and high teen pregnancy rates. My mom was raising 8 kids on her own after my parents split, and I was at an all-F school where no one was expected to succeed. But I refused to let my environment shrink my vision. I made my teachers my best friends, chose to make A's and B's regardless of the darkness around me, and worked with my teachers to pass my SAT and ACT. Getting to LSU made headlines because no one from that low-performing school had done it before. At LSU, I stayed every summer taking extra classes, balancing athletics and academics at a Power Five school despite the culture shock. I became Scholar Athlete of the Year two times, a Hall of Famer, gold medal winner, Kodak All-American, and found my husband who was a three-time champion baseball player. I played 12 years in the WNBA, becoming the first Haitian American to ever play in the league. After retiring, I led the RISE basketball academy for 6-7 years, helping young women get scholarships to colleges. Then we lost our firstborn son CJ, who was a star baseball player with a scholarship to LSU. He had a heart of gold and loved everyone, sitting with special needs kids despite being a star player. After his passing, I studied business at Harvard through an NBA program because I wanted to build something sustainable for CJ. My husband and I started the Be Like CJ Foundation, where we run athlete development programs to strengthen character, host Walk of Love events, memorial tournaments, and legacy dinners honoring coaches and players who exude CJ's character traits. I wrote two books: 'The Winning Side of Losing' sharing my journey, and 'Be Like CJ' to inspire young people to lead with love. My work now is about inspiring people to not let their environment shrink their vision, turning pain into purpose, and helping others become better versions of themselves.