1996: Darryl Lester #LT30for30
Since 1992, Leadership Triangle has been a convener, educator, advocate, and amplifier for some of our region’s most engaged leaders and organizations. To celebrate our 30 year anniversary, we’re telling the stories of 30 Fellows from 30 years of programs. Each Fellow highlighted will represent one year of impact: from 1992, to 2001, to 2022.
Darryl K. Lester is a cultural philanthropist, social change agent, and national service guru. As the Founder and CEO of the Institute for Building Communities by Design, Darryl promotes civic and community engagement, leadership development, and greater access for young people with mental and physical challenges. Darryl was an early proponent of utilizing collective giving models to affirm and promote greater investment of time, talent, and treasure in Black and brown communities in the South. This vision would lead him to a leadership and organizing role in establishing the Community Investment Network (CIN). CIN inspires, connects, and strengthens African Americans and communities of color to leverage their collective resources and create the change THEY wish to see. Darryl is a 1996 Leadership Triangle Goodmon Fellow.
“Since giving, serving, and philanthropy belong to no one and everyone can practice and engage in them, I encourage us to look for micro and macro ways to be relevant, to be generous and to engage in random acts of kindness.”
Kristine: Tell us your story. How can we better understand you?
Darryl: I grew up in rural South Carolina, in a little place called Marion. My dad served in the Vietnam and Korean wars. So I’m the child of a vet. I’m also the child of two entrepreneurs who had businesses in the South when it wasn’t really popular for Black folks of color to have a business. That grounding, coming up in what I would call one of those true villages, I benefited from that. Due to a death in my family, I moved to Cary, North Carolina to finish high school. I went from a high school with predominantly people of color to a brand new community and a high school of predominantly white people. That was one of those transitions that shaped me. After finishing graduate school, I spent some time in higher education before joining Public Allies as one of the Founding members in NC. Over the course of my career I’ve worked in philanthropy, leadership, consulting, etc. Now I consider myself a concerned citizen. I work to get people to think about how they maximize their time, talent and resources in community.
Kristine: As I was reading your bio, I felt like you have been consistently ahead of a lot of cultural and social movements. I mean, only now are people really coming around to the idea of collective fundraising. That’s something you’ve been talking about for awhile.
Darryl: I have been very blessed to have been surrounded by individuals who are both older and younger than me who graciously share their social and intellectual capital. Those relationships are what helped me to ask some deeper questions about the world and helped me to clarify the world as it is and the world as I wish it to be. They also pushed me to see that if I wanted a different world, I needed to be engaged in changing it. I needed to be an active and engaged citizen and not a passive participant. The people who raised me, not just my parents, always said that to whom much is given, much is expected. I had many mentors while pursuing my graduate degree at NC State, two of which were Drs. Lawrence Clark and Augustus Witherspoon. Their individual and combined courage and leadership left an impact on the campus and in the greater Triangle. In many conversations and interactions with them they helped me refine my purpose personally and professionally by having me probe the following questions:
Who am I?
Whose am I?
Why am I here?
Where have I been?
Where am I going?
What contribution will I make?
The questions above have been at the foundation of me knowing my greater WHAT and WHY.
Kristine: What has changed in the narratives around leadership since your time with Leadership Triangle?
Darryl: You know, when I went through the Leadership Triangle in 1996, leadership was like an ode to Stephen Covey. Some of the classes were very kumbaya about DEI. The conversation didn’t go deep enough. And I’ve seen Leadership Triangle change a lot since then. Now, the cohorts are full of people who are already leaders in their spaces. It’s more about how to get those people to see themselves as leaders of the community as well as their organizations, and to build the relationships they need to move collective work forward. And now, it’s not just about competency of skills, but about cultural competency as well. Leadership comes from many different life experiences and spaces, and we need to create room for those people to teach others. If somebody has been given a gift and a talent, they need to be brought in and encouraged to use that gift and talent.
Kristine: How can people connect with you and support your work now?
Darryl: I am currently serving as a Senior Advisor at Armstrong McGuire as well as founder at The Institute for Building Communities by Design. As people explore my personal and professional journey, I am sure that they will see some connections to partner, to dialogue, to ask more questions, or to just share a meal.
We live in times that require more courageous leadership. We need more people willing to go upstream and deal with some discomfort. Since giving, serving, and philanthropy belong to no one and everyone can practice and engage in them, I encourage us to look for micro and macro ways to be relevant, to be generous and to engage in random acts of kindness.
https://www.armstrongmcguire.com/about/team
Editors note: About midway through our conversation, we realized that Darryl and Kristine’s mom went to high school together. They’re still friends on Facebook. So note to our readers — you never know if the person you’re talking to knows your momma. Act appropriately.
