Malkia was born and raised in Detroit, MI, USA, where she all attended a private Jesuit University majoring in Mass Communications with a prelaw minor.  After a change in her major which was her first passion, she thought it would be safe to go into law. While in  college, she worked at  a Managed Medical Group where she started working with technology, a gift that came naturally to her as a way to support her family as a single mother.  While working on her undergrad, she had several projects; two of which were around the homeless population. One was an art installation illustrating the working homeless and the other was an on the street interview with several shelters and homeless people in the Detroit metro area. One of her interviewees help her to see homelessness in a different way. She would later find herself in this situation right after 9/11 for just a few weeks, but it lead to an impact that anyone couldn't understand.  This technically inclined person made her way back into the technology field in 2002 where she has applied her technical ability and knowledge with adding additional value on every technical project she has  lead or managed.