Maxime (pronounced Maxim) is a child of the ‘80s born in Brooklyn, N.Y.  His parents immigrated to America in the 1970s and instilled in Max and his brother, Serge, strong values of family, grit, and determination, which would give them a brighter future.
                    
Max’s parents divorced when he was only four. Shuffling their children between Long Island during the week and Brownsville in Brooklyn on weekends, Max’s parents always worked to make sure he and his brother had their best chance at success, raising them to be self-assured and giving them a good education.
                    
His parents refused to let him envision his future within the confines of Brownsville’s crime and poverty-ridden streets. Instead, they raised him to believe in his ability to choose a future, which Max considers critical to his success.
                    
Max’s father provided an example of strong, male leadership that taught him accountability, self-respect, humility and perseverance in the face of doubt, a message that was reinforced when he traveled to Haiti as a child. That trip to his parent’s homeland helped him realize how fortunate he was to have his life in Brooklyn.
                    
While in Haiti, Max saw statues of slaves who had thrown off the shackles of bondage and learned about Toussaint L'Ouverture, leader of the Haitian revolution. To see the images of black men in positions of power and strength had a profound impact on the young Max, who wanted to find a way to make his life honor that legacy.     
                
After his trip to Haiti, Max’s father moved he and his brother to Washington, D.C., where Max's father taken a job at Howard University, a nationally-ranked historically black college. Max had to leave his mother behind in Brownsville, but she knew this was his best chance and had to put her faith in God’s plan. Their bond grew even stronger as they talked nearly every day.
                    
Immersed in examples of black history and culture by his father, Max began to feel a sense of personal responsibility to honor the men and women who came before him and paved the way. So, he dove into his schoolwork and excelled, determined to find success.
                    
Rather than drawing inspiration from black athletes and musicians, Max aspired to the life of Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable from The Cosby Show and wished he could attend the fictional Hillman College from the show’s spinoff, A Different World. After years of hard work in school, Max found his Hillman in Xavier University of Louisiana.
                    
There, Max met Joe and Pierre, and they banded together to help one another through college, refusing to accept failure as an option.
                    
Max graduated in 2002 with honors and a bachelor of science, subsequently receiving his medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine. There, he found a passion for anesthesiology because it allowed him to help patients during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
                    
After Howard University, he completed his residency and pursued a fellowship in cardiothoracic anesthesia at Henry Ford Hospital.                
                    
Eventually, Max earned the title of Diplomate from the National Board of Echocardiography, making him one of the most highly-accredited anesthesiologists in the country.
                    
Today, Max has three children with his wife, Andrea, and has moved back to Louisiana with his family, where he now practices medicine.
                    
Throughout his life, the influence of Max’s father was never far from the path he walked, and that mentorship had a powerful impact in his success. Max believes it is important to continue his father’s legacy of mentorship by working to change the narrative surrounding young black men.
                    
On that first visit to Haiti, grand-mère Elina told Max that it was the job of children to exceed the accomplishments of their parents. He wants to help create a world where that is possible for all young, black men.