Malaak Compton-Rock was born in Oakland, California but currently resides in Alpine, New Jersey. She graduated with a degree in arts management from Howard University. Malaak used to work as a public relations executive for Unicef. Her responsibilities included booking celebrities for Unicef projects. She is the founder and executive director of StyleWorks, a no-profit, full-service salon that offers free services to women who are about to leave welfare in order to enter the workforce. Aside from providing full makeovers from clothing to skincare, the organization also holds seminars on a consulting basis.
Malaak Compton-Rock is also actively involved with several other organizations such as Safe Horizon, Hope WorldWide and The Children's Defense Fund. Her favorite giving back moment was when she organized 200 at-risk children from Brooklyn to shop for Christmas presents as Target. Aside from shopping, the kids also watched two episodes of Everybody Hates Chris and participated in a Q&A with the show's cast members. In 2002, Malaak was featured in Redbook Magazine as one of the winners of its Mothers & Shakers Awards.
Malaak's favorite food is Gumbo. The movies at the top of her must-watch list are Blood Diamond, Sparkle and the 1983 romantic drama Terms of Endearment. She enjoys listening to Prince's music and admits to indulging in massages. She names sweet potato pie as her favorite dessert and claims that her favorite time of the day is during early mornings. Malaak is married to comedian Chris Rock and has two daughters namely Lola Simone and Zahra Savannah.
Malaak Compton-Rock is one of the judges on ABC's
Oprah's Big Give . A reality game show, it features 10 contestants who are given large sums of money. The contestants compete against each other in finding “the most powerful, sensational, emotional and dramatic ways to give to others.” For someone who is deeply committed in giving back, Malaak describes her being part of the show as “being a kid in a candy store.”
(Photo courtesy of ABC)