DBT40 Honoree: Malcolm Coley

Title: Chief Technology Officer

Malcolm Coley | DBT PHOTO BY LUIGI CIUFFETELLI

Workplace: Futures First Gaming

Age: 37

From technology to creative marketing to natural hair locs, Wilmington’s Malcolm Coley knows what it takes to wear multiple hats.

Coley is not only the chief technology officer of Futures First Gaming and the director of digital media for a full-service marketing company called Influencers Lab Media, but also has amassed a significant social following of natural hair enthusiasts as a founding member of LocNationTM, of which he remains the CEO. 

His marketing role, which he has held since 2017, led to winning political campaigns and working with notable partners such as The Queen, the Philadelphia 76ers and the State of Delaware. His technology role with Futures First Gaming, which focuses on bringing more Black and Brown people into technology through esports, revolves around education and has led to the implementation of esports competitions for Delaware schools.

Coley, a graduate of Seton Hall University, previously worked for multiple science and technology companies in Delaware and New Jersey.

The 2023 Leadership Delaware program fellow has mentored more than 100 local students statewide through afterschool programs and volunteered at local Boys & Girls Clubs. He has helped lead food donation efforts through the Sunday Breakfast Mission and Bethel AME Church, as well as bookbag drives and an effort to donate hundreds of laptops and internet access for local students during the pandemic.

Coley is also a gaming, food and basketball enthusiast who is passionate about clean drinking w