Walcott Emerges as Force as Black Community Leaders Age

With a country mourning the passing of civil rights leader Coretta Scott King, many are wondering who will fill the shoes of black leadership. While New York black leaders are growing older and retiring, the passing of the torch to the next generation has been a slow process.Stepping out of the shadows is Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, 54.“The maturation of black leadership should allow us to see ourselves as one,” Mr. Walcott told The New York Sun.”We are spread throughout in religion, business, and civic services, and it’s all part of the leadership to advance the community. Just as any community gets older, there has to be a blending with new leadership.”Mr. Walcott is the deputy mayor for policy. He was appointed in January 2002 by Mayor Bloomberg as the point person on education. He also serves as the liaison to the Department of Youth and Community Development, the New York City Housing Authority, the Health and Hospitals Corporation, the City University of New York, and the Mayor’s Office of Health Insurance Access.Married and the father of four children and one grandchild, Mr. Walcott grew up in Queens. His mother, Eleanor Walcott, was a social worker with the Human Resources Administration. His father, Dennis Walcott, was a high school dropout who worked as an exterminator for the New York City Housing Authority.“I had a great childhood,” Mr. Walcott said. “There was a lot of love in my household. I also had structure and there was a foundation laid for black children to do well. I had that.”Mr. Walcott graduated from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree and a masters in education in 1973 and 1974, respectively. He became a kindergarten teacher in Jamaica, Queens, where he said he saw a need.“I was the only black male kindergarten teacher there,” Mr.Walcott said. “A lot of the kids started to migrate to me because many did not have a father figure in the home.”He approached the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization to see if they had a program he could join in his area. Discovering there was none, he decided to create his own program called Brother to Brother.“I just felt it was important for the boys, especially at such an early age,” Mr. Walcott said.Mr. Walcott matched himself with two of the boys from the school, whom he mentors to this day, and set out to find other mentors to match with young boys in the area. He later quit his job.He managed the Brother to Brother program for three years. He went back to school at Fordham University and received his master’s in social work.Mr. Walcott worked at United Way for five years, and then Harlem Dowling’s Westside Center as executive director for five years from 1985 to 1990.“I was there at the height of the border babies, crack, and the AIDS epidemic,” Mr. Walcott said. “It was here that I learned the importance of being an activist and being out in the streets with the people.”In 1990, Mr. Walcott was tapped by New York’s Urban League to head the organization as president and CEO. He launched countless new services to meet the needs of disadvantaged New Yorkers.“It was a citywide operation with a variety of services,” Mr. Walcott said. “The role of any organization is to deliver the services to the people. I wanted to make the interaction of government, business and not-for-profits work together for the benefit of the community.”Today Mr. Walcott says he is proud of his service and commitment of serving New York City. In his efforts to improve the quality of education for millions of children, empower parents, and engage business leaders, Mr. Walcott said his biggest role is being a black man.“I am blessed to be on television and to be accessible,” Mr. Walcott said. “We all have to constantly give back, become political, and be active in church. We all are engaged in leadership.”

Walcott Emerges as Force as Black Community Leaders Age

Walcott Emerges as Force as Black Community Leaders Age

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