Daniel Griffin
Growing up in the greater Los Angeles region of southern California, Daniel Griffin was a long-time neighbor to adversity. However, having traveled overseas as a professional athlete and having established himself as a philanthropist and successful entrepreneur, Daniel is a sterling example of an inner-city success story. But Mr. Griffin is more than the proverbial over-comer of urban ills; rather, he has become a conduit for positive change in underserved communities like the neighborhoods in which he was raised. His story is more than a beginning, body, and end: it is a “full-circle” of inspiring life experiences worthy of communicating to all.
Daniel is the 2nd child born into a family of five. With his mother being a frequent victim of domestic violence, he and his siblings were often uprooted from their home and forced to seek shelter in precarious places. The angst that Daniel experienced from this instability was an emotion that would later fuel the desire to own his own home.
Progressing through the school system in Los Angeles County was no easy feat for Daniel either. At age fourteen, Daniel’s family was abruptly separated. Joyce experienced an unexpected illness which caused Daniel and his siblings to be placed in temporary foster care. To avoid dealing with the dangers of attending the middle school near his foster home, Daniel was forced to endure a rigorous schedule at a young age: he would awake at 4:30 am every school-day to utilize public transportation to travel approximately an hour to South Los Angeles where he had to ride the school bus another hour just to attend a middle school in Canoga Park. The dangers were less and the opportunity was greater at Columbus Middle School, making the two-hour trip worthwhile. In the ninth grade, Daniel was reunited with his family. Daniel went on to graduate from Crenshaw High School where he was an All-American basketball player, garnering back-to-back city championships and one state championship to cap his senior year. He then went forward to play collegiate basketball at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and subsequently graduated from Rhode Island University with a BA in Speech Communication. Daniel accredits his determination to gain an education to his mother. “My mother never gave up on education…receiving her Associates degree in her elder years, and is pursuing her BA now well into her sixties.”
The love of basketball lured Daniel overseas where he played in a professional league in Taipei, Taiwan; however, knee injuries seem to haunt his dreams of becoming a professional athlete. Upon having knee surgery after his return to the states, he found himself in the same position fighting to overcome once again. It was at this point that his story began to truly come around full-circle. Daniel began teaching in the Compton unified school district in 1996. He taught at the middle school he avoided as a child which is around the corner from the foster home he once resided in. “Teaching is one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done in life: to inspire and motivate youth through education. That taught me unconditional love. Truthfully, it’s the kids that are actually my source of inspiration.” Daniel, or “Coach Griff” as dubbed by his students, is now helping the kids to realize there own full-circle experience. For example, one of his former students, Manuel Wright, went on to play for the Super Bowl Championship-winning New York Giants. Another former student became a teacher at Davis Middle School, following in Coach Griff’s footsteps.
Daniel Griffin is currently a successful entrepreneur and property owner. Moreover, many of Daniel’s properties are homes reserved exclusively for low income tenants eligible to receive the government subsidy, Section 8, on which his family once relied. He is determined to build a lucrative empire with the ultimate goal of using his God-given public speaking ability to effect change in the world. Daniel’s refined message and oratory skills have landed him placement on such distinguished panels as The Smiley Foundations Youth 2 Leaders entrepreneur panel, the business panel for the Tom Joyner Cruise, and on the panel for the Black College Expo in Los Angeles. In the name of love and service, Daniel has also spoken to thousands of students throughout the Greater Los Angeles school district to reassure the youth of these underserved communities that they can succeed through determination, perseverance, and faith. These core values were instilled in him by his mother as well as his mentor and confidant, Rosey Grier: a former professional football player for the Los Angeles Rams. Daniel is forever grateful to have such magnifiable role models to guide him, and he is driven to pay it forward by being a similar beacon of light for his youthful successors. That’s a full-circle.
Topics
- Youth Leadership Development
- Inspiration & Motivation
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