Demond Martin is a CEO, founder, philanthropist, and investor shaping a new model of wellbeing that starts with purpose and ends in possibility. Demond has experienced the full range of life’s realities — from city blocks and a down South trailer home, to boardrooms that move billions. He’s built portfolios on Wall Street and programs that restore hope on the ground. Today, he’s using that same discipline and empathy to help people live longer, fuller lives — proving that doing good and doing well can be the same act of leadership.
Through their family foundation, Demond and his wife, Kia, focus on erasing gaps created by racial and social injustice in education and healthcare. Demond has served on numerous nonprofit boards including the Obama Foundation, as a trustee of Berklee College of Music, and a board member for both the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the GRAMMY Global Venture Board.
“Genius is evenly distributed; opportunity is not.”
Those early years between life in Inglewood and a rural Southern trailer home taught Demond empathy, adaptability, and what it means to belong to a community that refuses to quit. That’s where his purpose began.
“Where you start is not where you finish.”
At UNC Charlotte, Demond was elected student-body president as a sophomore — a signal of the trust people placed in him early. He found mentors, met his future wife, Kia, and learned that access changes everything. Years later, the university named its student union the Popp-Martin Union, honoring a journey that once seemed impossible. Today, his portrait welcomes thousands of students as a living reminder that where you come from should never limit where you can go.
“Markets move money. Purpose moves people.”
After earning his MBA from Harvard Business School, Demond’s first job out of college was serving in the White House as the assistant to President Clinton’s Chief of Staff, Erskine Bowles. He then joined Adage Capital Management in Boston, and as senior partner, helped grow the firm to more than $40 billion in assets while investing in consumer brands. What he discovered was simple but transformative: the same principles that build wealth can also build wellbeing — if you measure returns in improved lives, not just dollars.
“Everyone deserves the chance to live a healthy life”
Demond co-founded WellWithAll with entrepreneur and philanthropist Carmichael Roberts, PhD, to turn business into a force for better living. What began as a simple idea — that health is a human right — has grown into a purpose-led wellness company helping people make.
WellWithAll creates all-natural vitamins, supplements, and energy beverages designed to meet people where they are — real tools for daily wellbeing, built on trust, community understanding, and impact.
Through the WellWithAll Foundation, 20 percent of profits are reinvested in programs and health resources to close health gaps where they are widest. As CEO, Demond is leading the company’s commitment to generate $300 million in cumulative social and economic impact by 2030
“Your ZIP code should never determine your lifespan.”
To bridge science and society, Demond sponsored the Creator Summit at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to connect researchers and digital creators with a collective reach of 50-million followers so credible health information can travel as fast as misinformation.
The resources integrate WellWithAll’s Wellbeing Toolkits. The culturally relevant, real-talk guides are designed to help people make one better health decision a day and offer a tool ALL can reach.
Next comes the $1 Million WellWithAll Prize, a new kind of competition for health equity designed to mobilize innovators to compete to close gaps in early detection and care.
“Every day we wait, the gap widens. So we’re not waiting. We’re mobilizing innovators to make early detection and better care a right, not a privilege.”
Friends of the Good is Demond Martin’s first book — a reflection on the power of friendship as a force for healing, growth, and change. Through stories of the people who shaped him, he shows how real connection can restore faith, fuel progress, and build communities that last. It’s a reminder that friendship isn’t optional — it’s how we find strength in struggle, purpose in success, and meaning in the spaces between.
Explore Friends of the Good — a reflection on the relationships that make us who we are and the good we create together.
As a CEO/founder, investor, and philanthropist, Demond regularly shares insights that help leaders, brands, and communities turn purpose into measurable progress. Explore the themes shaping his talks, panels, and conversations and powering Generational Wellness for All.
“My grandmother taught me that doing something for others sends ripples through the world you can’t even imagine. Every success I’ve had belongs to those who believed before I did. My family, mentors, and community — you are the reason I rise each day committed to making good go further.”
