(Carroll County, Md.) — Billy Lyve didn’t set out to build an empire. He set out to make sure the next generation had someone in their corner.
Lyve serves as Executive Director of three organizations, Find Your Purpose Inc., Wisdom Court Entertainment, and Movers and Shakers.
Find Your Purpose, headquartered in Carroll County, was established in 2021. The other two grew out of that foundation before evolving into their own identities.
Together, they represent something rare in Carroll County: a minority-owned nonprofit built from the ground up.
As one of the few minority-owned nonprofit leaders in the county, he says the road has not always been easy.
I have to work twice as hard to get recognized and three times as hard to gain opportunities.
— Billy Lyve
Still, Lyve isn’t deterred. He describes himself as a hustler, someone who is willing to put in the work to prove that his organizations and his community belong at the table.
Lyve credits his late mentor with inspiring him to step into leadership and pour that same energy into others.
He speaks about that relationship with gratitude, and shares that without his mentor taking a chance on him, his own path could have looked very different.
Now, Lyve does the same for the young people who walk through his doors.
Find Your Purpose keeps its community close through a calendar of events and programs.
The organization hosts Easter egg hunts that draw nearly 800 people, back-to-school events, youth talent shows, cooking classes, and mentorship sessions — all designed not just to serve families, but to bring them together.
Lyve says the thread running through all of it is connection.
He is intentional about placing young people in spaces where they interact with peers they may have never crossed paths with otherwise, building friendships and bonds that extend well beyond any single event.
That investment in young people is already paying off.
Through partnerships with local school systems, youth connected to Find Your Purpose have landed opportunities to DJ high school homecomings and proms.
Lyve says the community’s support has been a genuine source of strength.
But he is straightforward about the reality: funding remains one of the biggest challenges standing between Find Your Purpose and its full potential.
His vision is clear. He wants to expand the organization’s reach into more communities, grow the programs already in place, and create even more opportunities for the young people who need them most.
For Lyve, this is not just a nonprofit, it is a movement, and he is just getting started.