ABOUT ME

I Serve The Community

Kevin is the youngest of 6 kids, he is black and creole, and he gets his entrepreneurship bug from both his parents as his dad Ricardo Davenport owned a construction/remodeling company named for 30+ years and his mother Donna Davenport has been running her performing arts academy for 40+ years and is still in existence today, fieldcrestperarts.com. Kevin also got his sense for education and giving back to the community from his parents. His father was a professor teaching math, construction, and electrical at Chicago City Colleges and his mother was a professor at Chicago State University teaching business and she later created a non profit "Childrens Dance Theater of Chicago" to bring performing arts to the south and west side communities of Chicago.

Kevin excelled in sports early playing traveling baseball and soccer. Kevin's 8th grade year he was a US Sports Ambassador for the People to People program and his US u16 soccer team placed 3rd in the world in the Haarlem Cup. In highschool Kevin was ranked in the State of Soccer and Baseball and was also the kicker for his Highschool Soccer Team.

Kevin accepted a soccer scholarship to Lincoln College where he was nationally ranked 15th Striker for NJCAA and obtained his Associates Degree. Kevin then accepted a soccer scholarship to Lewis University and his junior year his team won 3rd in the nation for NCAA Division II (& Kevin will proudly show you his NCAA Ring and Trophy any day lol). Kevin graduated from Lewis University with his Bachelor's Degree in Communications (2012) and minor in media relations. (Side note: Kevin was known as "DJ SMUV" because of his popular radio show with local features on LU's WLRA station.)

Early Entrepreneurship

Kevin started his entrepreneurship journey in college where he turned his dorm room into a barbershop after teaching himself how to cut hair from videos online. He used those funds to rent event spaces around campus and would throw local parties for his classmates. After graduating (2012), Kevin transitioned from local college parties into promoting upscale clubs downtown Chicago. & Eventually evolved to launching "The Status Group" with a business partner, which was popular was throwing lavish events for black and latino chicago professionals in spaces they went typically welcome. Status group was also a marketing company with a portfolio of 21 Chicago restaurants, 17 local businesses, and 2 major brands. During these early entrepreneur years, Kevin was also building his corporate experience as: Admin Assistant for Preferred Meal Systems, Recruitment Specialist for Robert Morris University, & Business Development Manager for Revlocal. Marketing Director for Pi Surveying Group. Kevin sold his shares in The Status Group to his partner and exited the company after a 4 month wind down.

After his exit Kevin decided to do work primarily focused on community impact. In September of 2015 Kevin created The Ideal Candidate NFP to bring soft skills to black and latino communities. He also started working as Associate Loan Officer for Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CDFI) to help spur economic development for Chicago's BIPOC communities. He is the former campaign manager for Cassius Rudolph 20th Ward Alderman Run. & Human Capital Consultant for Concurrency Inc. Kevin was also further serving his community by volunteering on quite a few boards at this time: Fundraising Chair for The Metro Board for Chicago Urban League, National Board of Directors for the LIT "Igniting Futures" College Tour & Business Mentor for Young African Leadership Initiative. He was also a proud member of the Chicago Leadership Alliance during it's heyday.

EARLY LIFE

SOCIAL IMPACT

Putting In Work

In 2019 while still growing and scaling The Ideal Candidate NFP, Kevin became an author by launching his book, The Ideal Candidate Book and he also started working for Chicago Urban League's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as Program Manager and quickly became the organization's youngest Director in the department's history. Kevin's helped 388 black owned Chicagoland businesses grow in revenue and/or staff size, and helped 71 additional businesses obtain their MBE/WBE for government contracts.

Kevin is also a Coleman Foundation Scholar and obtained a special certification from University of Tampa on becoming a great entrepreneurship educator and was 1 of 4 awarded for "Outstanding Teaching".

MORE RECENT WORK

Found My Calling

In 2020 Kevin is recognized by the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations & Executives as: Certified Nonprofit Consultant, Certified Nonprofit Executive, & Certified Development Executive.

In 2021 Kevin launched The Ideal Candidate Online Certification to help further his vision in global impact for The Ideal Candidate. & The Ideal Candidate curriculum was now being used in 5 states.

In 2022 Kevin was accepted into Chicago Blends Venture Capital Diversity Program as a VC Venture Fellow where he was mentored by Hyde Park Angels team and received his VC University Certification of completion from California University of Berkeley. & It was during this VC cohort that Kevin met a mentor that encouraged him to think larger and create a for profit for The Ideal Candidate. In July 2022, The Ideal Candidate Inc was created with a new vision in mind.

In 2023 The Ideal Candidate is in 15 states, impacted 15,000 and counting students, and just received the 2023 Microsoft Tech Maker Award. Kevin also Co-Founded Thunderstrike Digital - a digital marketing agency designed for community impact (Thunderstrike only hires from The Ideal Candidate). & He also became an Angel Investor after he invested in the 1921 Coworking Incubator in Chicago's southside. Kevin is still volunteering as well:

Angel Investing Member for Vitalize Venture Capital
Midwest Chapter Member for BLCK VC
Member of Northwest Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
College of Business Advisor - Lewis University
Business Coach - The Gray Matter Experience

PRINCIPLES

Family First

Kevin is also a proud husband to Ecuadorian and fellow entrepreneur wife, Ruth Bernal Davenport. Ruth is the Founder and CEO of Workforce Works, an HR and Benefits firm for small/mid size latin and women owned businesses. Ruth and Kevin met at a business conference and the rest is history. Ruth and Kevin have 2 baby boys together named Jackson Roman Davenport and Maxwell Ricardo Davenport.

Kevin's experiences of being a success employed-prenuer while maintaining a marriage and raising children is the basis of his training. Utilize his unique insights so that no matter what chaos is happening in your life, you can stay focused on prioritizing your goals, maximizing your time, and boosting your outputs.