Derrick Griggs was the valedictorian of Asbury Park High School’s graduating class of 1993, where he was a member of National and Kiwanis Honor Societies. Derrick attended Rutgers University on the James Dickson Carr Scholarship where he obtained a BS degree in Finance. While working in Finance during the day, Derrick attended Rutgers in the evenings to pursue a MBA in Management & International Business, also from Rutgers University.

After a seventeen year distinguished career in Corporate America, with the last stop as the Director of Finance Operations for the $4 Billion Travelport Corporation, Derrick left to start his own real estate investment company. After spending three years setting up the business infrastructure of the real estate investment company, Derrick returned to New Jersey to join HANDS, non-profit organization. HANDS is a community development organization that provides housing to low and moderate income families. The timing could not be more ideal, as Derrick entered the non-profit space right as the recession impacted thousands of families in New Jersey. Derrick led the acquisition, development, and occupancy of 47 properties in Essex County, NJ. After completing the first transaction of the $50 Million federally funded Neighborhood Stabilization Program in Newark, Derrick returned home to lead Monmouth County’s largest non-profit community development organization. Derrick is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Affordable Housing Alliance in Neptune, NJ. The Alliance is a mid-sized non-profit with a $20 Million annual budget and 80+ employees. The Affordable Housing Alliance services over 20,000 people per year throughout Monmouth County.

In 2014, Derrick brought Three Female Ballers (www.f3bscholars.org) to Asbury Park. This is a non-profit program where basketball is used as a tool to expose underprivileged females, ages from 15-19 years old, to international leadership. In 2014, three female basketball players visited Africa as part of the program. In 2015, we took two more females to Bahia, Brazil. Derrick also orchestrated the development of a new, state of the art, all-season soccer field at Bradley Elementary School in June 2015. This was done via a partnership with Asbury Park School District, the Affordable Housing Alliance, and the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington, DC.

Derrick and his wife, internist Dr. Abeer Griggs, are parents to two sons, Derrick Jr. (3) and Ibrahim (2).

Not a quote, but how he lives his life: "In order to achieve flight, one must be willing to risk a fall."