Malachi Knowles was born and raised in Palm Beach County Florida. He attended Washington Elementary School in Riviera Beach, FL and Roosevelt High School in West Palm Beach, FL.The President & Founder of ICYG Inc. started this program for troubled kids in 1999, and expanded the programs to all kids in the community. A member of the African-American Golfers Hall of Fame, Malachi Knowles started shagging golf balls at 8 years old at the prestigious Everglades Country Club in Palm Beach, FL where he started earning his quarter tips that he gave to his mother Mary Knowles to put in the bank. One of the members of the Everglades gave him his first set of clubs at age 12 and he taught himself the game of golf from watching the members and others.

His father Joe and Mary put their quaters together and sent him to Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland in September 1959. Morgan did not have a golf team so he pestered the athletic director until one was started. They have competed under the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association since the 1960-1961 school year. Malachi was placed on a golf scholorship, lettered for the remaining three years and graduated from Morgan State College, Baltimore, Maryland in June 1963. He earned a two-year "Master of Regional and City Planning Degree" from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma in August 1965. His parents were very proud of him.

He started his working career on August 16, 1965 with the U.S. Housing and Home Finance Agency and retired from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. in March 1991. He returned to Palm Beach County and started substitute teaching at John F. Kennedy Middle Magnet School in Riviera Beach, FL as his way of giving back to the community. He quickly recognized that that was not enough and founded "Inner City Youth Golfers', Incorported" (ICYG) in January 2000 which is a tax-exempt foundation that seeks to provide "academic excellence, mentoring and golf" to young persons between the ages of 7 and 18 years of age.

Mr. Knowles has previously served in several other executive and policymaking positions at the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies and the White House Office for Urban Policy in Washington, D.C. prior to his retirement. He was the first Director General of the "World Conference of Mayors" and he taught graduate and undergraduate classes at University of the District of Columbia (1970-1974), Washington, DC; Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland (1974); and the University of Miami, Miami, Florida (1975-1976).

He has received numerous awards for his work and has traveled extensively. He is currently involved with the Palm Beach County Black Historical Society, Inc.; Southern Region/Palm Beach County Chapter, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc; National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners; The Golfe; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity (Life Member) and Sunshine State Amateur Golfers Association, Inc.