Kambrell Houston Garvin was born and raised in Columbia by a single-mom who instilled
the importance of education, hard work, grit, and determination. At the age of 5,
he was diagnosed with a speech impediment. It was then that his mom changed the trajectory
of her career and pursued a career as a speech therapist to assist him in overcoming
that challenge. As a result of her willingness to go above and beyond to assist him,
today, Kambrell is able to speak clearly and confidently; turning what once was a
weakness into a strength and in the process, discovering the power of his voice.
At an early age, Kambrell used his voice to serve as an advocate to move his community
forward. As a young community leader, Kambrell: organized his first voter registration
campaign at the age of 10, led efforts that registered hundreds of new voters, volunteered
on political campaigns, and participated in numerous rallies and political action
events on matters ranging from education to social justice around the United States.
He had the distinct privilege of leading the SC NAACP Youth and College Division as
president from 2009-2011.
After proudly graduating from A.C. Flora High School, Kambrell went on to earn a Bachelor
of Arts in Political Science with minors in African American Studies and Sociology
from Winthrop University in 2013; Masters of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins
University School of Education in 2016; and anticipates earning his Juris Doctor from
the University of South Carolina School of Law in May 2019.
At Winthrop, Kambrell served as the Student Government President, ex-official member
of the Board of Trustees, and voting member of the 10th Presidential Search and Selection
Committee. As a college student leader, he utilized his organizing skills and headed
efforts that successfully registered over 1,000 new voters, addressed voter disenfranchisement
and lobbied state lawmakers to make public education funding a greater priority.
A longtime equitable education advocate, Kambrell joined Teach for America, a non-profit
organization dedicated to building the movement to eliminate educational inequity.
He spent three years as a South Carolina public school teacher in Walterboro, SC,
a rural community located along the I-95 corridor. While teaching, Kambrell spearheaded
the first ever 6th grade overnight field trip, science fair and was actively engaged
in the school and local community. As an educator, he used his voice and instilled
into his students that they were capable of achieving anything that they put their
minds to and that their zip code would not limit their future success.
Each of these experiences equipped Kambrell with a unique perspective and furthered
his passion to bring positive change to his community and state. After returning to
his hometown, Kambrell realized that his community deserved a strong voice championing
issues from economic development, education, criminal justice reform and affordable
health care. Inspired by the example of his grandfather, who fearlessly served as
the first African American on his local city council, Kambrell launched a grassroots
campaign for the SC House of Representatives District 77. In June 2018, at 26, Kambrell
won the Democratic Primary with nearly seventy-percent and the subsequent general
election with eighty-five percent of the vote.
Kambrell is a member of the First Nazareth Baptist Church, Columbia Branch NAACP,
SC Education Association, and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He was recognized
as "Top 20 Under 40" by the SC Black Pages, was featured on the cover of IMARA as
"two for the future," and over the years has received numerous recognitions and awards
for his community and civic engagement.
Kambrell is the proud son of Dr. Sonji Garvin Baxter, Rev. John K. Baxter, and Reginald
S. Garvin, Sr. He is married to his college sweetheart, Monique Patton Garvin and
the couple resides in Northeast Columbia, SC. Kambrell lives by the motto that "Excellence
can be obtained if you care more than others think is wise, risk more than others
think is safe, dream more than others think is practical and expect more than others
think is possible."
