Creating those opportunities to develop young leaders has been a mission for DeVaul since his earliest days.
He grew up in Evanston, Ill., long enough ago that when he began going to YMCAs, they were still segregated.
And when he came to Charlotte in 1999, he found a new home that still included barriers for many. Like many who live here, he was stunned by the now-famous Harvard study that ranked Charlotte 50th out of 50 major cities in economic mobility. Progress has been made since then, but for DeVaul, creating opportunities for young people was the path forward.
“All of a sudden it was like, OK, these are all puzzle pieces sitting in front of me; I’ve got to pick up the puzzle pieces,” DeVaul said of his discussions with fellow Black executives across the country. “So we started out focusing primarily on boys and young men of color, and then it became Young Men Thriving.
“We had had experiences, and to me, the lived and shared experiences become so important, and I think if you look back, our theme for next year is “No Place Like This Place,” which, if you think about social justice and belonging, part of it is how do you develop space and place for people to get comfortable.”