Biography of Damon Lester

Damon Lester was born in Philadelphia, PA. He matriculated through the Archdiocese of Philadelphia School System and graduated from Archbishop John Carroll High School. He continued his education at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA., where he received a B.A. in Accounting.

After graduating from Temple he was hired as a Staff Accountant with a local Public Accounting firm in Philadelphia, specializing in non profit and governmental entities such as the Federal Transportation Administration. He then relocated to the Washington, DC area where he accepted the position as Senior Accountant with a regional public accounting firm, and later excelled to become Supervisor of the firms audit and consulting department in which he specialized in creating non profit organizations through the World Bank as well as USAID funded non profit organizations based in the United States with field offices abroad. During his tenure at the firm, he traveled to areas such as Kiev, Moscow, Republic of Georgia, Kazakhstan, Istanbul and other former Soviet Union Countries.

He currently serves as President of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. NAMAD's mission is to provide viable opportunities for ethnic minorities in every aspect of the automotive industry. Damon is responsible for overseeing NAMAD's day-to-day operations. He is actively involved in developing and implementing NAMAD's action plan, and thus serves as a liaison with senior automotive manufacturer executives. Damon is also responsible for overseeing its finances and fundraising efforts. Over the years as NAMAD Vice President of Operations, Damon has implemented many internal and external processes in communications with NAMAD's corporate sponsors, members, board of directors and other vendors. In addition to those duties, Damon also plans, organizes and executes all of NAMAD's meetings and events such as its Annual Conference, Issues Forum and Reception which are held during the National Automobile Dealers Associations Conference.

Damon was selected as Manchester's Who's Who in 2005-2006. He is also a graduate of Leadership Prince Georges (LPG) which for the past twenty years has provided leaders with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to make a significant impact on the future of Prince Georges County, Maryland. The mission of LPG is to assist in the further development of the area's leadership to meet the challenges of leading the multi-cultural community of Prince Georges County.

He is a board of director of Americans Well-informed on Automobile Retailing Economics (AWARE), member of the Automotive Trade Association Executives (ATAE), the National Association of Black Accountant (NABA), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners (NCBMP), Meeting Professionals International (MPI), and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Damon is the father of two children.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MINORITY AUTO DEALERS | 8201 Corporate Drive, Suite 190 | Lanham, MD 20785 | Phone 301-306-1614 | Fax 301-306-1493