Derek is a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in Political Science and working towards an Arabic minor. He plays wheelchair basketball at a collegiate level and have been a right-leg amputee since he was six years old. Derek began playing wheelchair basketball in 7th grade on a Madison, Wisconsin-based team called the Mad City Badgers. When he graduated high school, the team disbanded due to lack of funds and recruits. His social venture works towards rebooting the Mad City team as the Isthmus Adaptive Wheelchair Basketball Initiative and following a comprehensive model to improve the lives of the players and the perception of disabled individuals in the community.