Our Team
Peda and Leora are the husband and wife duo behind Mathmatik Athletics
Peda is the visionary behind the brand, the storyteller and designer. Leora is the integrator, executing those ideas and managing the daily operations. Collectively they have lived in four neighborhoods
across Boston —Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, Fenway, and they call Dorchester home.
Leora
Leora is a community builder at heart and a strategist by trade. For nearly two decades, she’s worked at the intersection of design, culture, and social impact—helping organizations create spaces where people feel seen and valued.
She founded a volunteer-led nonprofit that championed entrepreneurs of color, bringing voices like Benoni Tagoe, Julian Mitchell, Lisa Nicole Bell, and Julissa Calderon to the stage. Today, she serves as Associate Director of Operations and Growth for an adult career training program that helps people pivot into new careers in biotech and IT. Leora holds a master’s in Applied Positive Psychology, where she explored Positive Citizenship—the idea that belonging and contribution can transform communities.
At Mathmatik Athletics, Leora and Peda are building something bigger than fashion. They’re building a brand where people feel seen and represented, contributing to a world where everyone feels like they matter.
Who is your hometown team?
I grew up in Connecticut, but both my maternal and paternal grandfathers were from Brooklyn. My dad is a die-hard Knicks fan so it is only right that I inherited the continued legacy of love and loss that comes with bleeding orange and blue. But my badge of honor is the UConn women’s basketball team.
My dad is responsible for bringing UConn women’s basketball to public television (CPTV) in the 90s at their early dominance. I was 8 when they won 26-0 and I still remember the parade in Hartford and the excitement of the crowd. UConn women’s basketball defined my childhood and teen years from attending games to answering pledge calls at CPTV. During the NCAA women’s Final Four I met Diana Taurasi the season before she started at UConn and I also rode the elevator with Sue Bird at the hotel. I feel fortunate to have grown up in the 90s and early aughts with women athletes playing such a huge role in my life.
Peda
Peda is the visionary and creative fueling Mathmatik Athletics. He started it in high school as a streetwear brand with friends, but it has evolved over the years through trial and error as Peda has honed his expertise, knowledge, and focus.
He is a self-taught graphic designer, clothing designer, and he dabbles in photography, videography, and animation. In 2018, Peter saw the
opportunity to merge his artistic skills with his interest in tech, so he enrolled in and completed General Assembly’s UX Design Bootcamp. Since then, he has worked full-time in tech as a senior product designer. He brings his background in user experience design, his passion for storytelling, and brand identity to Mathmatik Athletics.
Who is your hometown team?
Growing up in Miami in the early 90s the only games I would watch was the Miami Heat. Once I started seeing this bald headed gentleman from Chicago destroy Miami every time they played I
became a fan of Michael Jordan and watched more of the Bulls because they took the majority of the championships in the 90s. During that time period that was a team I gravitated towards. However, when I moved to Boston in the late 90s I started to identify more closely with the Miami Heat because it represents where I am from, North Miami, specifically Little Haiti. I’m
proud to be from Miami with its Caribbean culture, food, and car culture. There’s a level of Haitian pride that Floridians have compared to other cities I’ve lived in and that’s why I love
being from Miami, moun pa n (my people).
The birthplace of ambition
The seed that eventually became Mathmatik Athletics was planted when Peda was thirteen years old. What should have started as a regular day at school, ended in a detour at 25 Rockdale St. in Braintree, Massachusetts. Peda and his mother found themselves in front of InventHelp, which helps inventors patent and submit their ideas. This was the birthplace of Peda’s ambition.
He was in shock. His mom pulling him out of school in the middle of the workday was a big deal. His father had passed when he was seven and she was a single parent, a Haitian immigrant
working to provide for five children. Her not being at work in the middle of the day meant that she was taking time out of her hourly job as a nursing assistant. But it shouldn’t have surprised him as his mother always believed in him and his talents from a young age and encouraged him to pursue his dreams of being a sneaker designer. That is how they found themselves at InventHelp with sketchbooks of Peda’s sneaker designs. She was inquiring how much it would cost to produce a prototype. When they heard the number, Peda felt that this was all a waste of time as they would never be able to afford the sample. Six years after their trip to InventHelp his mom passed away unexpectedly. His perspective
shifted. Her belief in him had planted a seed inside of him. Looking back he understood that that moment was the beginning of Mathmatik Athletics. It was his mom’s belief in him and his dreams that showed him that his ideas and designs were worth the investment. From that moment forward Peda believed if he bet on himself he couldn’t lose.
The Origin of the Name Mathmatik
Our name has its roots in hip-hop.
Peda was inspired and influenced by Rakim, Jay-Z, Nas, and Mos Def, who all referenced the Supreme Mathematics philosophy. He resonated with the
language those artists used to express identity, consciousness, and self-knowledge and applied it to building the brand.
Good in Every Hood
Good in Every Hood started as more than a saying — it was a way of life. Growing up in the city, you had to be aware. There was violence, tension, and certain parts of the neighborhood you just didn’t go to unless you had a reason to be there.
For me, that reason was basketball. The game gave you a kind of hood pass — it was your first way to move freely through different parts of the city. If you could hoop, you earned respect. Your game spoke for you before you even said a word.
Being good in every hood meant that your reputation and integrity traveled with you. It wasn’t about being the toughest or the loudest — it was about being respected for your craft, your
discipline, and your character. That respect lets you navigate spaces others couldn’t.
Good in Every Hood, is about more than just basketball. It’s about building a name that carries weight anywhere you go.