Kevin Davenport
Kevin Davenport ’11 has dedicated his career to empowering and educating youth in underprivileged communities around the Chicagoland area.
After graduating from Lewis University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in Radio/Television, Kevin started a modeling, marketing, and events company called The Status Group Inc. There, where he served as President and minority owner for two years. In 2015, he made the decision to sell his share in the company in order to focus on a new opportunity in his professional career.
Kevin founded The Ideal Candidate, a company that provides excelling students in distressed communities with opportunities to learn and grow. The company has developed a code of conduct intended to build confidence and strengthen values that are critical to achieving professional success. The Ideal Candidate positively impacts areas that have a 75% or higher unemployment rate and focuses its efforts on students in their junior or senior year in high school.
“The Ideal Candidate’s goal is to increase job rates within diverse communities by teaching skills that are imperative to succeed in the work force in various fields by providing a basis of etiquette, table manners, behavior modification, and leadership training,” Kevin explains. “Through the completion of The Ideal Candidate program, students will not only receive certification, but will have a new level of confidence, the ability to lead, and the opportunity to obtain internships and entry-level positions. The Ideal Candidate seeks to further the development of student leaders by providing a program that upon completion will make our graduates more attractive to future employers.”
Kevin is passionate about what he does each day and is grateful for the opportunity to give back to the community. “Being an active member into the success of our next generation by educating and opening doors for these students is a great feeling,” Kevin says.
His goal in life is to lead by example and give back to the community. He believes that Lewis provided him with opportunities to gain the proper knowledge and disciplines to do so successfully in his future.
“Lewis has really helped in my critical thinking process; I am able to view a problem now from many perspectives and dissect it so I can solve it in the most efficient way possible,” Kevin says. “I attribute much of this skill to a professor of mine, Dr. Cathy Ayers, who really took me under her wing and challenged me to be the best person possible.”
Kevin is a chess addict who loves to read, travel the world, and play soccer. He was a part of the Lewis University Soccer Team that ranked 3rd in the nation in 2010-2011. “Playing sports and maintaining good grades is a challenging task that ultimately taught me about time management,” adds Kevin. “I bring my knowledge of time management, sportsmanship, and discipline to all professional endeavors.”
Kevin has just recently accepted a new position as the Marketing Director for Pi Surveying Group P.C. located in Chicago. He hopes to apply his knowledge and skill from prior experiences to this new role.
He offers the same advice that he found helpful on his journey to success: “Visualize, set goals, and make a strategic plan! Find a mentor to help you get there and then take action! With a little patience, it will all come together.”
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