Born in Guyana, South America to Clare Sullivan and Gairy Austin, Germaine Austin eventually became one of eight siblings. He spent his early childhood managing a small farm and taking care of his younger sisters. His mother, a business owner, woke up before the sun rose for work and returned after sunset. At times, in his mom’s absence, he was nurtured by his grandmother Stella, neighbors, aunts and his uncle, in the small village community.
He spent the second half of his life with his stepmother, Wanda Austin and his father. His father’s military service required the family to move every three years, building new friendships and adjusting to new environments all over the world. Germaine spent three years in Germany, experienced European culture with friends and family, and played soccer. His early years in the U.S. school system was challenging but his parents took an interest in his education and that interest pushed him towards the path of achievement. His father placed emphasis on reading and mathematics. Every night, after completing his homework, he learned more about mathematics and read from books selected by his parents, before discussing what he learned with them. Two creeds instilled in him by his parents were to, “never accept the fact that you are average, you will never be average because we never set out to raise an average child, achieve the unimaginable but remember that achievements do not make you superior, it just makes you more knowledgeable and powerful to help others
He graduated with the “Best All Around Student Award” in middle school for athletic and academic performance and graduated from E.E. Smith Highschool as a North Carolina Academic Scholar.
When he turned 18 years old, his family moved to Japan and Germaine stayed in North Carolina. He embarked on what would be the most rewarding and challenging journey of his life. He joined the United States Army after Highschool to serve his country and to help himself financially through his matriculation at North Carolina Central University. His college journey was filled with organization leadership roles, fraternity duties, part-time work, grassroots organizing and civil and human rights initiatives, political accountability, election law education and legislative and judicial campaigns. One college event, sought to cripple him and end his journey. He was robbed of every possession he owned. However, it had the opposite effect and pushed him to focus more on educational and athletic achievement. In 2006, he graduated Magna Cum Laude in English Literature and Political Science.
The year after college further changed his life. He spent that year working at a therapeutic mentoring agency. He mentored and provided therapy to disadvantaged youths suffering from substance abuse, drug abuse and other traumatic experiences, usually at the hands of parents and family members they trusted. Using therapy to build back trust, confidence, skills and happiness that was lost became gratifying when two of Germaine’s mentees were able to turn their lives around. They went from abusive, rebellious runaways to becoming school role models and employed community leaders.
After law school, he moved to Georgia and reconnected with the voting rights fight with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He dedicated two years towards fighting for voting rights equality and voter defense. He currently serves on the board of several civil rights organizations focused on equality initiatives such as legal and judicial diversity, wrongful convictions, juvenile justice, police accountability and minority inclusion.