We had the good fortune of connecting with Dan De Nose and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dan, we’d love to hear more about your end-goal, professionally.
My life experiences have transformed me into a social justice leader. As a child, I frequently found myself getting into trouble — I was a failing student. At the age of 11, I moved away from my family in Newark, New Jersey to live with a Caucasian family in Geneva, New York. It was there that I realized that many young people from urban communities’ trajectory is contingent on their socioeconomic status.

Upon graduating from college, I decided to serve back to my native city. I garnered all the knowledge I could from working in politics, business, nonprofit education reform, graduate school, and as an administrator to build Leaders of the 21st Century so that children from my neighbor and others alike, would have a better chance to gain employment and develop as leaders.

I was fortunate with opportunities in my life to participate in a public policy leadership program, serving as a community organizer around quality education and even living in South Africa to research ways to improve after school programs. These realities caused me to consider a few questions, if students are exposed to the knowledge that is provided within our curriculum prior to college, how better off would they be? How much of an impact could they make in their community? The answer immediately came to me that our local community would be better, but also our world.

Just as I received access to these multiple opportunities, I wish to do the same. My end goal with Leaders of the 21st Century is to have multiple after school sites throughout the United States of America to help young people navigate their transition from high school successfully as well as having international programs/sites. I would like to continue supporting my nonprofit via my business D.M. De Nose which is a social enterprise in which I provide tailored motivational presentations as well as continue to sell my apparel with the theme “You Are What You Think.” A percent of revenue that is generated go towards the scholarship fund for graduating high school seniors of Leaders of the 21st Century. My hope and prayer is continue to support our youth regardless of zip code.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a social justice leader who is dedicated to finding sustainable solutions to eliminate the opportunity racial wealth gap for youth in urban communities.

Although my non-profit, Leaders of the 21st Century was founded in 2016, I continued my full-time job as an administrator while serving as its Executive Director. After work and on the weekends, I dedicated myself to create a curriculum and teach during the program’s Saturday sessions with a focus on how to lead effectively as social change agents and preparing for employment/internships.

On June 30th, 2020, I decided not to return to my full-time job and instead, commit all of my efforts to fully develop the organization. I felt it was a disservice to not fully dedicate myself to the mission and further development of the organization in a concerted effort to better support our youth.

My focus has since been on the purpose of the organization and larger societal impacts rather than any profit gains. The young people I serve receive the necessary tools to make a positive impact on their community while becoming career ready. I believe I was called to change the world and make our world a better place.

The biggest lessons from my journey as an entrepreneur is “trust the process.” Everything that happens along the journey is for my betterment to serve and become the best version of myself. The other lesson is to forever be a student who is eager to learn. I am extremely blessed beyond measure.

I want the world to know that my passion has been and will always be to motivate and help others become the best version of themselves. I love to motivate and inspire others through my story of perseverance. My story has positively impacted rooms filled with professors, educators, high school students, college students, parents, churches, as well as businesses. I love the title “motivational speaker,” but I believe my story goes beyond motivation. I rather be called a “mindset shifter.” If you can daily work on positively changing the way you think, you will become the best version of yourself. Faith alongside positive thoughts is one of the keys for success and you must treat negative thoughts as poison to your brain.  You can change the world around you with a positive mindset. I plan on doing just that for “You Are What You Think!”

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am extremely grateful for the people that God sent along my path. I have my beautiful wife Devonne who inspires me daily. My three children, my family, and so many mentors and friends who continue to support me as I continue to support our youth. Nevertheless, I would be remiss to not give this shout out to my parents who modeled unwavering faith throughout my life. Their living example of faith, humility and grace has shaped my own walk and understanding on what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.

Every day, when I log into my computer and look across my office I see my whiteboard. Written in a bold blue, I am reminded of a bible study lesson that was given to me. Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

I see a world of endless possibilities where young people are model citizens who are leading with integrity and compassion.

I see future generations loving one another as they love themselves.

Website: www.dmdenose.com

Instagram: @dmdenose

Linkedin: Dan M De Nose

Facebook: DM De Nose

Youtube: D. M. De Nose

Other: www.lot21c.org @lot21c

Image Credits
Donell Woodson @foto.don

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