Marvin Yates

NSIN University Program Director

Marvin D. Yates, Sr. is a lifelong Detroit area resident, except for a 3yr. stay in Washington DC, when he first began his career in the Department of Defense. He completed his undergraduate degree in Business Administration – Data Processing from the Detroit College of Business in 1986 and his MBA in Computer Information Systems at Baker College in 2000. Marvin obtained his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2006.

Marvin has had a varied career and began working in IT in 1984 with the River Rouge Savings Bank. He then joined Ford Motor Co. in 1995, serving as a Systems Analyst and IT Project Manager for 12 yrs. In 2012 Marvin joined the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) serving initially as an IT project manager, and subsequently as the Section Chief for Internal Use Software (IUS) and Internal Controls. While with DIA, Marvin returned to Detroit and began work with ProsperUS Detroit as an Instructor in their Entrepreneurship Training Program in 2016. For the last seven years, he has assisted entrepreneurs in business plan development, and all phases of business start-up, management, operations and provided ongoing mentorship.

Mr. Yates’ volunteer work includes serving as the Chairman of the Economic Development Corporation for the City of Melvindale, MI between 2015 – 2021. His previous work with the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) has included serving as a mentor on the “Into the Data Verse” hackathon at the University of Michigan in 2019, training in the H4D Educators Course in 2020, and participating in NSIN’s Hirethon Ambassador Program in 2021-2023