About Jermaine

Jermaine M. Harris began his first major business venture at the age of 20 in 1990.  He began 5th Gear Fashion Merchandising Company. Jermaine designed, mass produced and marketed his own style of fashion and helped usher in a trend within the Urban Hip-hop apparel market.

Recognizing that giving is just as fulfilling as receiving, Jermaine founded Lean On Me Foundation in 1991 with the purpose of serving the needs of low to moderate income families. Jermaine manages the planning of many changing projects.  Many of the programs participated in are: teen parent counseling, math tutoring, teen motivational seminars, college recruiting, scholarship awards, Big Brother program recruitment, as well as consultations in personal finance & small business administration.

All the while, Jermaine continued to pursue higher education. He accepted the 1993 Prudential Insurance academic scholarship award at Cal State Northridge with a Major in Quantitative Economics. He applied for a recruiting job at Northridge due to his perceived notion of excessively low college entry and graduation rates among minority students. The job required a college degree, so as a representative of Lean On Me, he negotiated the development of a student intern recruitment program at Northridge. The 15 student intern recruitment team worked under the supervision of the 5 full time recruiters with the sole focus of placing minority 9th and 10th graders on the college path by giving classroom motivational speeches, counseling students individually and tracking their progress of college preparation.

Jermaine obtained a Masters in Business Adminstration at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1998.  During his graduate studies he built a clientele as a Personal Financial Consultant with AXA Equitable. He focused on offering clients financial solutions to secure their financial futures.

In 2000 Jermaine switched from building a personal finance clientele to building a corporate clientele. As a Directors and Officers Insurance Underwriter with AIG his tasks were to analyze his corporate client’s financial status, business operations, legal risk and stock trends and recommend risk mitigation strategies. His goal was to protect Corporate Directors and Officers assets from lawsuits. He has analyzed thousands of public, private and non-profit organization across the country. Jermaine is currently employed with ACE Insurance Company as an Executive Underwriter in the Professional Liability Division.

In 1999 Jermaine began a second career in Education. He currently teaches Economics at Long Beach City College. Teaching the next generation of leaders is where Jermaine’s heart truly is. Jermaine is a firm believer in always having at least two irons in the fire and diversifying ones income sources.

 Jermaine is the husband of Brandy and the proud father of Trevon (17) and Starlet (16). “Fatherhood is the toughest, hardest, most rewarding thing I have ever had to do.” Jermaine is devoted to encouraging the next generation to embrace the beauty and benefit of family devotion. Which he has learned through personal experience is the first and most important missing link in many people’s lives.

“A man is only as good as the good he does”
Jermaine M. Harris