Daevon, better known as Dae, is a Black American born and raised on Chicago’s west side. They have lived in a few Midwest states, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, and have traveled to South Africa. Throughout his life, Dae has remained dedicated to ensuring that minoritized communities learn the true breath of their power and strength and understand how they can change their existence globally because the freedom and rest they want can be conceptualized and manifested into reality.

True to the times, Dae enjoys “doom scrolling” on social media. They also enjoy yoga, getting lost in nature, gardening/foraging, photography, and poetry.

Dae graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in Communications, emphasizing intercultural communication and understanding intra-cultural gatekeeping and identity. Through this lens, Dae uses communication as a tool for connecting ideas and appreciates the value of communicating holistically to maximize impact.

Dae has worked in education for the majority of his career, starting at Harold Washington College as a student ambassador. He was then promoted to a recruiter role, charged with leading a high school recruitment team. They also worked at Chicago Public Schools in the Access and Enrollment Office, proctoring 7-8th grade selective enrollment tests. Recently, they worked with Gads Hill Center, where they started as an Administrative Assistant. He was promoted to Program Operations Manager and was tasked with overseeing and supporting four program models (youth services, children's services, mental health, and community initiatives) across nine sites and 12 Chicago Public Schools. They also oversaw two company initiatives: the cultural inclusion cohort, which was tasked with providing a training curriculum for the entire agency and providing a space to contextualize cultural behaviors within the workplace, and the annual professional development training conference, which brought together 178 staff for a week of development and training on technical, personal, and professional skills and goal setting.

Working at Bold & Write, Dae hopes to bring his creative light to help small and mid-sized nonprofits shine bright in rooms they didn’t know existed. They hope to inspire donors to find and develop systems to look for grassroots organizations and projects. Dae is excited to develop the skills to uplift communities by shifting the narrative of scarcity and lack to one of abundance and long-term sustainability.

Favorite quote: “We come spinning from nothingness, scattering stars like dust. Why act so small? You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” - Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balki Rumi