From an unpaid internship in 1991, Kevin Liles has had a meteoric rise through the ranks to become President and CEO of the Def Jam Music Group in 1998 when he was just 30 years old. In 2004, Kevin joined his long-time mentor Lyor Cohen, President and CEO of North American Recorded Music for Warner Music Group(WMG) as Executive Vice President. As one of the industry's most influential executives, he oversees a number or marketing and brand extension initiatives and provides support for key artist promotions and strategic ventures for a collection of WMG's labels, including Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records as well as the Company's world-renowned music publishing company, Warner/Chappell Music.

Over the course of his career, Kevin has been instrumental in the success of superstar artists such as Jay Z, Kanye West, T.I., Missy Elliot, Ludacris, DMX, LL Cool J, Dru Hill, Musiq Soulchild, Ashanti, Ja Rule and the late great Gerald Levert among others.

Kevin has not only put his extraordinary talents and determination to work in the music industry, he has also been a visionary, activist and philanthropist and an advocate for numerous social causes, including free speech, civil rights and voting rights. He has also been an outspoken voice against racism and censorship across the country. Determined to use the blueprint of his own success to help guide young America, Kevin has worked to inspire youth for more than two decades including through his bestselling book "Make It Happen: The Hip Hop Generation Guide to Success" and subsequent youth empowerment speaking tour.

In addition to his own Kevin Liles for a Better Baltimore and Make It Happen Foundations, which engages youth through business, education and community-based initiatives, he also serves as a board member for New Yorkers for Children, the SEED School of Maryland, the Ogilvy & Mather's Diversity Advisory Board, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and serves on the Board of Directors for the RIAA. Kevin's philanthropic work includes involvement in a number of NAACP among others; earning him recognition from the TJ Martell Foundation, the 2008 "Nicholas Scoppetta Child Welfare Award" from New Yorkers for Children, the "Urban Hero" award from The Catalog for Giving, the United Jewish Association's "Visionary Award," and the prestigious "Racial Harmony Award" from the Foundation of Ethnic Understanding. In 2005, Woodlawn High School in Baltimore renamed their stadium after Kevin and in 2007, the Mayor of Baltimore renamed Presstman Street to Kevin Liles Drive.

Make it Happen!

Those who Make It Happen live in the land of possibilities and they have a crew: I Will, I Am, I Can and I Do. They Think it, they Speak it, Walk it, and they Breathe it. When you choose to adopt the Make It Happen philosophy anything is possible.

Make It Happen was written to show how to take control of your life and make what you believe become reality. Lots of people want others to make things happen for them, but we are generation E. We are Educated, experienced Entrepreneurs and have to learn to Empower ourselves. So let today be the last time you blame somebody for what you don't have or how racism, sexism, hisism or herism didn't get you that job you wanted, that internship you deserved, that opportunity that passed you by. You have to be prepared for opportunity. There's opportunity in everything we do. Some of us have not prepared ourselves for opportunity. Some people are so worried about being at the party, hanging out all night, that they sleep through opportunity. Some of us get so caught up in the work that others want us to do, that we are blinded from opportunity. Some of us get so caught up in the dream that they don't even realize that they only are dreaming, and not putting in the work necessary for opportunity to become reality. Life is full of opportunities if you allow God to do his work and you put in yours. Through education and experience, You Become Empowered. I Call It E3: Education, Experience And Empowerment.