Executive Leadership

Matthew H. King, MBA

Matthew H. King, MBA, is a transplant resident of Baltimore, MD (Harlem Park) that relocated from Morristown, NJ in 2010. Matthew is a social entrepreneur that has a business interest in financial services, real estate, and haircare. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Progression Financial Group LLC, Progression Properties, LLC, and Dreams Virgin Hair, LLC.

After graduating from West Virginia University with a Bachelors of Multidisciplinary Studies, Matthew was a real estate investment broker at Marcus & Millichap in Elmwood Park, NJ. During his time at Marcus & Millichap, Matthew learned and specialized in the multifamily sector of commercial real estate. After a lengthy discussion with one of his clients, Matthew decided to cross over from the sales side of commercial real estate and focused on being a real estate investor.

Relocating to the Harlem Park community of Baltimore, MD, and buying his first investment property was the best decision Matthew has made. During his early years in Baltimore, Matthew took a position with New York Life Insurance Company (NYL). At NYL, he hit every award that is offered for a New Organization Agent and become the face of the African American Market Unit as an AAMU Ambassador. Before leaving NYL in 2015, Matthew surpassed all milestones to become a Million Dollar Roundtable Agent (MDRT), an international industry award.  In 2016, Matthew left the financial services industry and helped open Dreams Hair Studio, which was a Paul Mitchell Focus Hair Salon in Owings Mills, MD. During that time, Matthew missed the financial service industry and decided to jump back into that realm by founding Progression Financial Group, LLC, in August of 2017. Since then, Matthew has become a president council agent with one of the carriers he is appointed with Global Atlantic Financial Services in 2018.

During the time of the Freddie Gray murder and the Penn North riots, Matthew was exposed to the historic disinvestment that exists in Baltimore, especially West Baltimore. Years later, being a seasoned Harlem Park resident, he acted by founding the Harlem Park Community Development Corporation in 2018. Since Matthew is a man that lives a moving forward lifestyle, correcting the disinvestment that exists in his community was not a task that he could not tackle.

Mr. Matthew H. King has been a true catalyst of change for our Harlem Park Community. As he states daily, with the help of all Harlem Park stakeholders, we will change our Harlem Park/ West Baltimore Community.

Leland J. Mack Jr., Esq.

Leland J. Mack Jr, a native of Brooklyn, New York, serves as the Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Development for the Harlem Park CDC. Leland is a Business and Startup strategist fueled by ambition, dedication, vision, and purpose in a rapidly growing environment. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Gavia Group LLC; Vice President of Mack Digital, Inc.; and serves as an Advisory Board Member to the Miller Young LEAD Academy.

Growing up in an inner-city neighborhood with similar characteristics as Baltimore, Leland has witnessed the primary and secondary effects that a lack of resources can have on a community. In efforts to ameliorate the lives of his community peers and other residents, Leland began indulging in philanthropic initiatives to provide aid to those in need. Through the leadership and everlasting inspiration of his late grandmother, Dorothy Mae Shields Grant, a notable humanitarian and community advocate, Leland’s involvement in community engagement grew in the early 2000s when he began working with City Council officials, the Brooklyn Borough President, and the Center for Court Innovation to bring educational programs and resources to communities whose success and transformation relied on it.

Throughout his professional and personal experiences, Leland has developed a strong sense of devotion for the nonprofit sector, because it resonates with his foundational principle: “to effectuate change by bridging the gap between historic disinvestments and the communities that are severely impacted by it.”

Passionately driven to help others realize their dreams and align themselves with the necessary resources, Leland incorporates his academic and industry experiences to cultivate groundbreaking initiatives that yield remarkable results for the communities that the Harlem Park CDC serves. Leland is dedicated to leveraging progressive, inclusive, innovative, and effective strategies to solve the communities’ most grave challenges.

Leland holds a Master of Laws in Intellectual Property & Compliance as well as a Juris Doctor from Western Michigan University Cooley School of Law. He has more than 13 years of multi-industry experience in strategizing, nonprofit expansion, integrated branding, marketing, stakeholder engagement, business development, consulting, client project management, diversity, and inclusion consulting.

Aaris U. Johnson, MDiv

Aaris U. Johnson, MDiv, moved to Baltimore, Maryland from his hometown of Washington, DC in 2001 to attend The Morgan State University. Aaris is a minister, educator, and social entrepreneur who has business interests in financial services, financial education, and college readiness fields. Currently, he works in Higher Education at his beloved alma mater.

Prior to graduating from college, Aaris went on to play professional football. Upon graduating from Morgan State University with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education, Aaris became a teacher at a local charter school before joining Baltimore City Public Schools. After much deliberation, Aaris eventually relocated back to Washington, DC to become a School Administrator. It was at this time when Aaris also began his college readiness program in both Baltimore and DC.

After meeting the love of his life, Aaris decided to move back to his second home and the place he says made him the man he is today, Baltimore, Maryland.

Aaris has a passion for people he has and will continue to dedicate his life to serving others especially the residents of the Harlem Park Community and West Baltimore. In addition to this, he is also motivated by his wife and son. His life’s motto is “Lifting As We Climb.”