Some know early on in life what career they want to pursue. Some may dream of becoming a doctor, engineer, CEO or lawyer as children. For those lucky few, it is an inclination they have from such a young age that their passion drives them into those careers. But for many, one's career may not come until later on. This was the case for Marcquis Parham.
Parham has held a list of job titles throughout his life. He currently holds the titles of working under the Ohio University Provost’s office for the Ohio Guarantee+ Success Initiative, the director of the Brothers RISE Initiative and an adjunct instructor for the recreation sport pedagogy program. He is also working toward a PhD in higher education administration.
Parham said that for him, however, the job titles are not what he focuses on.
“Outside of job titles, I would say my main philosophy is around connecting with people and being supportive,” Parham said. “I think it's so important to kind of help individuals get connected to the resources, whether that's online resources or actually human resources.”
His journey began while growing up in Kent with a passion for football. He played throughout his K-12 years and then was granted a scholarship to play as a cornerback for OU. He is the only former OU football player on the entire university staff.
After graduating with his master’s degree in 2008, he took a job in the Player Personnel Department for the Minnesota Vikings. He worked as a scout in the position, evaluating new talent.
He said that the extensive interview process to work for an NFL team helped him to see he wanted to help others going through the same.
“The idea and concept of helping individuals feel empowered to take on interview processes, to make sure that their professional portfolio is important to me,” Parham said. “How did that come about? Relationships and connections.”
Parham is the director of the Brothers RISE Initiative. The program is directed to, “strengthen public education by recruiting students, particularly African American males, into Teacher Education.”
He said the idea is to create a cycle of visibility, where groups not typically represented in education can see themselves and want to pursue becoming an educator.
“The concept of Brothers RISE is to leave everybody feeling empowered as they take those next steps into education in order to be able to target, locate and work with the most underrepresented populations in the classroom,” Parham said. “It's an initiative that is wrapped around the importance of expanding our outreach to all of our students.”
Aside from his time in the classroom and in education administration, Parham has taken on other career paths, most in the pursuit of helping others. After leaving the Vikings in 2009, he moved to the Columbus area where he worked in various roles for the YMCA of Central Ohio until 2018, when he was hired by the university full-time.
At the YMCA Parham hosted a fitness show called “Commit To Be Fit” on 10TV news in Columbus. He also took on jobs as a motivational speaker and runway model in his nine-year stint between the Vikings and OU.
Parham said that just like his time with the NFL, it all comes down to connections.
“You never know who somebody is when they walk around in sweatpants,” Parham said. “A big-time fashion designer exercised at my gym and she approached me one day and she was like ‘You know, you will be a great model.’”
Through hardship, connections and passion, Parham has created a life of helping others to achieve, and in turn, he sees that as an achievement for himself.
“My OU story is one of connections and relationship building,” Parham said. “I've been blessed to have a number of different identities.”
