Today we’d like to introduce you to Daryl K. Houston.
Hi Daryl, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
After graduating from Western Kentucky University I moved back to Florida. My first professional job in the nonprofit sector was with the United Way of Palm Beach County. I was hired to lead a program called “Hands On Palm Beach County.” I was later promoted to Senior Director of the Volunteer Center and Disaster Management with the same organization. I worked for the United Way for about 8 1/2 years, before accepting the opportunity to shift into philanthropy and began working at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin County, where I have work for the past 12 years.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would not say that it has been an extreme uphill journey. However, what I will say, which I often say to my kids, to whom much is given much is we required. There will be many occasions where tremendous time and effort are required. There are going to be times when you wish you could snap your fingers and have instant results. Some days are going to be much longer and tougher than you ever anticipated. And guess what, don’t be surprised that everyone is not going to agree with you along the way. It is all part of this thing we call growth and climbing the ladder of the profession that you are in.
Now, if there is one thing, I can share it would be…While you are on your mission, in the midst of your journey towards your goal(s), remember to celebrate your various accomplished in route to the final outcome. Do not allow yourself to work so hard to reach the intended target and be so tired that you do not enjoy the fruits of your labor…lived experience.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have had the amazing opportunity to work in the nonprofit sector for the past 20 years. I can truly say that, as it relates to who I am as a person, my character makeup, this is where I belong. Now, I did not always think this way… Not until one of my good friends said… Daryl is the cat that would give you the extra few dollars so that you can get the full meal off the menu, while he would grab something off the dollar menu. That is when it became real. That is when it hit home. It’s that type of work that you wake up in the morning saying, hmmm, what can I do today that will have a long-lasting positive impact on someone else’s life. That feeling of excitement knowing when you turn the lights off and leave the office, you can walk out knowing that you have done something beneficial for the community in which you live. So, as you can imagine there are many types of nonprofits. Well, I have the great pleasure of working on the philanthropic side. Simply put, in my role as the Senior Community Impact Officer for the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, I have the unique opportunity to assist in the facilitation of directing the financial resources that food pantries, homeless shelters, youth programs, etc… need to provide their various services to many individuals and families. If there is one thing that I am proud of I would say it’s the respect and trust that I have developed with our community partners. I have always approached my profession with integrity, honesty, and transparency… It is the core of who I am. I think that is what sustains me day to day.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Working in the world of philanthropy, I consider it to be a unique opportunity when you look at it from the standpoint of African Americans only make up about 10 percent of foundations staff. I would not say that luck has any role in my current position. I would say because of God’s grace and mercy that covers me daily and my work ethic, that is why I am where I am.
Contact Info:
- Email: dhouston@cfpbmc.org
- Website: www.yourcommunityfoundation.org
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