Meet John Graham

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Graham. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.

John, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I think I’m still discovering my purpose, but what I do know is that everything I’ve done up to this point has prepared me for where I am now.

It really starts with my earliest memories as a child of divorce. My parents split when I was five, and growing up as an only child navigating two households across the country taught me how to adapt and find belonging in between spaces. Both of my parents were incredibly ambitious. My father retired as an executive at Ford Motor Company, and my mother went from corporate America to building a thriving consulting and coaching business of her own. Watching them, I learned what success looked like, but I also recognized what was missing—the stability and unity that a healthy marriage could bring.

I come from a long line of educators, community builders, and activists. My grandparents were deeply involved in civil rights and community uplift, and that sense of service became a guiding thread in my life. I’m a legacy of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, the first degree-granting HBCU in the country. My parents met there, and I had aunts, uncles, and cousins who also attended Lincoln. So, Lincoln wasn’t just a school for me; it was inevitable.

Walking that campus, knowing that Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, Kwame Nkrumah and many luminaries once did the same, gave me a sense of grounding and purpose. I majored in African Studies, learning about our history before, during, and after the transatlantic slave trade. Later, I earned my master’s in education from Lincoln with dreams of one day returning as a professor. I often say I was positively indoctrinated into the mission of uplifting our people from the moment I stepped on that campus.

Fast forward to today, and that same thread runs through everything I do. Whether through my book Plantation Theory: The Black Professional’s Struggle Between Freedom & Security, my work in employer branding and corporate culture, or now as the founder and CEO of UpFront Marital Technologies, everything connects back to healing and restoration in the Black community.

I’ve seen how many of us achieve professional success but still struggle in our personal lives, particularly in building lasting marriages. That realization inspired me to create UpFront, an AI-driven relationship ecosystem designed to facilitate one million Black marriages and generate an estimated $4.7 trillion in household income over the next 50 years.

For me, purpose hasn’t been one big revelation. It’s been a series of alignments, lessons, and reflections that brought me here. I’m standing on the shoulders of ancestors who fought for freedom and dignity, and my purpose is to carry that forward—to heal, to build, and to restore what’s been lost in our community.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I wear a few hats, but at the heart of everything I do is a deep commitment to healing, legacy, and community. I’m the Founder and CEO of UpFront Marital Technologies Inc., a company built to do something bold: facilitate one million Black marriages by 2035. We’re not just a dating app. UpFront is a relationship ecosystem designed to help people heal before they connect, so they can build marriages that last.

What makes UpFront so special is that it takes a completely different approach to love. Before members are ever introduced to potential matches, they go through what we call The Healing District—a guided 30-day journey that combines psychology, cultural context, and AI to help users unpack patterns, reflect on past experiences, and grow emotionally. From there, they move into mentorship, connection, and ultimately legacy-building through marriage.

Our AI companions, Langston and Zora, serve as guides throughout the journey, providing personalized insights, conversation prompts, and daily encouragement. The idea is to blend technology and intentionality to create a space where healing and genuine connection can coexist.

What excites me most about this work is the impact. Healthy Black marriages aren’t just about two people finding love. They’re about restoring families, stabilizing communities, and closing wealth and opportunity gaps that have persisted for generations. If we reach our goal, we’ll generate an estimated $4.7 trillion in household income over the next 50 years. That’s real change.

We just launched our beta version of the UpFront app to our first 1,000 members, and the feedback has been incredible. People are resonating with the vision because it speaks to something deeper than dating—it’s about wholeness, healing, and hope.

Alongside that, we’re growing our UpFront Podcast, which features unfiltered conversations with therapists, matchmakers, and married couples who are doing the real work of love. It’s become a space for truth-telling and transformation, and it continues to inspire both our members and the broader community.

If there’s one thing I want people to know, it’s this: love isn’t dead, but it has to be healed. That’s what we’re doing at UpFront. We’re helping people heal first, so they can love forever.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The first skill that’s been most impactful for me is communication. Being able to clearly articulate your ideas, your vision, and your perspective in a way that’s not only compelling but influential is essential. It’s how you get people to believe in what you see before they can see it themselves. Whether you’re leading a business, running a campaign, or building a marriage, your ability to communicate with clarity and empathy will determine how far you can go. My advice is to practice it daily—speak, write, listen, and repeat. The best communicators are also the best listeners.

The second skill is learning and adapting quickly. We live in an era where information is everywhere. There’s no excuse for not knowing. The people who thrive today are the ones who stay curious, who keep asking better questions, and who take ownership of closing the gap between what they know and what they need to know. My advice is simple: become a lifelong learner. Read, watch, study, and then apply. Adaptation is how you stay relevant.

The third is the ability to dream and manifest. It’s one thing to wish for something and another to will it into existence. Manifestation isn’t magic—it’s alignment between your vision, your discipline, and your action. I’ve learned that if you can see it clearly enough and you’re willing to do the work, the right opportunities will start to find you. My advice here is to dream without limits, but pair that with relentless consistency. Discipline is the bridge between vision and reality.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Absolutely. We’re in a really exciting season of growth at UpFront Marital Technologies, and collaboration is key to what comes next.

Right now, we’re looking to partner with angel investors who believe in the power of love as a catalyst for community transformation. Our ideal partners are those who are passionate about the Black community, committed to the idea of restoring Black marriage, and recognize the opportunity to invest early in something that’s purpose-driven and scalable. We host private investor sessions where we walk through the vision, the business model, and the long-term impact of facilitating one million Black marriages. Anyone interested can reach out to me directly on LinkedIn or connect with our team through UpFront.love.

We’re also looking for married couples who have been together at least seven years and are walking the talk when it comes to healthy, sustainable relationships. We want them to serve as mentors and guides to the next generation of aspiring spouses within the UpFront community. Too often, singles are getting advice from other singles. We’re changing that by creating space for wisdom, transparency, and truth from couples who’ve lived it.

And for single Black professionals who are serious about marriage and ready to do the healing work first, we’d love for you to join our waitlist at UpFront.love to be among the first when the app officially launches at the top of the year.

At UpFront, we say, Heal first. Love forever. That’s what we’re building, and we’d love for you to be part of it.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Professional photo credits: Rudolph (P.J.). Tolar of SoFocus Photography

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