Meet David Dennis

By STEVE TRAIMAN

David Dennis is an author (Gameness) and president and chief executive officer of Eckerd Connects, one of the nation’s largest non-profits providing workforce development, Job Corps, juvenile justice, and child welfare services across the country. When David became CEO of Eckerd Connects in 2007, the organization was serving 9,500 youth per year across primarily residential programs in eight states on annual revenue of $79M. Under his leadership, Eckerd Connects has grown to serve over 43,000 clients each year through more than 160 programs across 20 states and the District of Columbia, employing nearly 2,000 people with close to $240M in annual operating revenue.

Dennis believes change is needed. “Across the U.S. there are approximately 445,000 children in foster care at a cost of around $9 billion. There are an additional approximately 87,000 youth involved in the juvenile justice system at an annual cost of around $8 billion. There are approximately 2,300,000 citizens incarcerated in the U.S., costing taxpayers an annual cost of $182 billion. Many of the older youth in the foster care system end up dually involved with the juvenile justice system and this is a pipeline to prison. We hope to help them build a pathway out of poverty through employment,” he says. Dennis shared his trajectory and plans with Paradise NEWS.

How did you choose this career? I wish I could tell you that my professional career move to Eckerd Connects over 16 years ago was part of my savvy career mapping strategy; but that is not the case. The seeds for my professional career journey, that eventually blossomed into my current role at Eckerd Connects, were planted in my childhood when at age 5, I was in foster care. I struggled as a teenager to sort through the emotional impact of my childhood.

By age 20, and feeling desperate, I picked up a Bible, in search for some hope, and found it. In college I volunteered as a Big Brother mentor; eventually becoming the foster parent of the young man I was mentoring. My professional path, born out of a painful past, began as a youth counselor and ultimately led me to Eckerd Connects 16 ½ years ago.

Why did this job appeal to you? My prime responsibility at Eckerd Connects is to lead our organization in executing the Strategic Vision set by our Board of Directors, who recognized the need for the organization to adapt, and they had the courage to make the necessary changes to perpetuate its mission and their founder’s legacy.

What lessons learned help you professionally? I learned early that how well I do with today’s opportunity will determine tomorrow’s. As a young boy, I started a lawn mowing business. I learned the best way to get another lawn to mow tomorrow is to do a great job on the one I am mowing today. I also believe that all successful work is teamwork. I am a creative visionary with tireless passion for work but without those team members who surround me with their complementary gifts and talents, I would have had none of my professional successes.

You’ve said that without success at home, there is no success at work. My career successes were all related to my providing leadership to turn around struggling organizations and each of these opportunities have all required my family and me to relocate to a new city and/or state. These moves required a great deal of sacrifice, support, and commitment from my wife and our five children. They have been my anchor, my advisors, and encouragers through our journey together.

What are your key programs for Eckerd Connects? Almost 10 years ago, we began to dig into the available data at the time and we realized that the vast majority of all the children and families we were serving in our child welfare, foster care, substance abuse school prevention programs, early education, homeless services, and juvenile justice programs had one thing in common… poverty We strategically grew our impact through the development of Workforce Development and Job Corp Services that provide youth and adult job skills, certifications and apprenticeships that foster successful careers and economic opportunity. We hope to disrupt the generational poverty that is rampant in so many communities. We are now operating services across Florida and in approximately 20 states and the District of Columbia.