Sector Spotlight: Dennett Edwards, founder of Corona Daze Professional Development Group (CDPD)

Thank you so much for spending some time with us, Dennett. I am lucky to have known you for almost 10 years, and you have always been a giver, serving in roles that help people in need. Where did this giving spirit come from?

My own sense of need growing up. Many food activists suffered food insecurity as children; I didn’t. I suffered from lack of opportunities, lack of knowledge and lack of support, access, and affordability in other essential areas—primarily education and housing.  

My mother, a single parent with two children, paid more than 40% of her income for rent. She worked a lot of overtime, went to school on weekends and nights, and became an Army reservist to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Queens, NY. I was left to figure out a lot of things by myself for me and my younger brother. I dropped out of high school at 16, got my GED three months later and immediately started community college, pretty much navigating all of that on my own.  

Affordable housing was something that eluded my family my whole life so I decided I would be an affordable housing developer. I studied housing development in graduate school, did some work in that area, and then I happened into charter schools. I realized that I could play a role in ensuring students had quality educational opportunities and didn’t have to drop out of school at 16, like I did.

All my professional work and community service has come from direct personal need at some point in my life. Today, I’m passionate about career development, training, and networking for marginalized and BIPOC groups because I struggled in these areas throughout my career.  

Tell us about the inspiration for Corona Daze Professional Development Group (CDPD).

Since undergrad, I’d always helped friends prepare for jobs by writing resumes and helping with interview prep, free of charge. I became known for this.

I’ve worked internationally, and when we began to shelter in place in March people started to contact me from all over the world asking for help with resumes, interview prep, employment applications and making connections to people and other resources for employment. I started to help them, but it became too many people, so I decided that teaching men to fish was always better than giving them fish.

Can you share a quick story or anecdote that exemplifies the spirit and mission of CDPD? Something that made you say, “this is why I do this work!“

A CDPD presenter, civil engineer, first generation college graduate, and child of immigrant parents studied engineering because an engineer gambled at her mom’s blackjack table. Her mother asked him what he did for a living, went home, and told her to look up engineering and she went on to major in engineering.  

Today, she’s an award-winning civil engineer, graduated from school earning three times her parents combined salary and in her spare time educates first generation students about STEAM careers.

I wonder what would she be doing today if her mother did not ask the man what he did for a living?

If marginalized groups don’t know about possible careers or industries, they will never be represented in those areas. CDPD is here to increase access, resources, and knowledge.

What has surprised you most during the first five months of launching CDPD?

Most career development assistance is targeted to young workers, but older workers need support too. Initially, I thought CDPD would attract recent 2020 graduates, young professionals. From the start, 69 percent of CDPD members have been over 34 years old, with over 55 percent ranging from age 35-54.

I am sure the launch of CDPD has not been perfectly smooth. Every successful business or nonprofit has difficult days. What are some of the obstacles that you overcame, and what was your mantra during those tough moments?

Our biggest obstacle is the limitations of my own professional network. I don’t have a strong, diverse professional network, so I am not able to easily connect our members with people and organizations that could be professional resources for them. Daily, I work to build my network via LinkedIn, and I’ve been successful. All our presenters have been people I’ve connected with on LinkedIn since founding CDPD. Not having a readily available network has been a challenge. Earlier, I noted that my sense of service has always come from a direct need. Prior to April 2020, I had poor networking skills and didn’t establish enough professional relationships throughout my career.

We have over 800 members and they are counting on me to deliver. Our mantra is “Ain’t no stopping us now!”  

Our other challenge is funding. I self-fund everything now. It’s not terribly expensive; I keep monthly expenses at $79 a month. Not having real funding means we can’t pay much for anything right now. That will change, because ain’t no stopping us now.

What do you hope CDPD will look like in a year?

The vision is clear.

• A virtual global mentoring program for professionals of all levels and ages.
• A platform for virtual community service where professionals can log in and indicate what they’d like to provide to CDPD—virtual mentorship, facilitate a training, or host a career journey chat.
• Partnerships with corporations where they could link their employees with CDPD to provide virtual community service.

You are a superstar, but even Dennett Edwards needs support. Who have you leaned on for help with this ambitious project?

I have leaned on all the presenters who support CDPD. We invite career coaches, trainers, and entrepreneurs across industries to provide free training, coaching, and career development to CDPD members. Between June and September, CDPD hosted 30 webinars covering resume writing, interview prep, salary negotiation, emotional intelligence, mental health and leadership, entrepreneurism, networking, and other topics. We have three advisory board members who provide guidance, a volunteer graphics artist/ website developer, and a volunteer admin/ moderator for our group.

[Editor’s Note: You can find all of CDPD’s webinars on their YouTube page.]

How do you think the employment landscape will look different in 2021 because of everything we’ve been through in 2020?

There will be more remote opportunities. I see more people pursuing self-employment, side hustles, passion projects and gig-economy work.

If you could share a message or piece of advice with job seekers in 2020, what would you say? Similarly, what would you say to recruiters and hiring managers? What do they need to know?

Jobseekers: Your career development is your own responsibility, not your employer or your school. Your network equals your net worth – build relationships, and maintain them throughout your career. It is not enough to just go to work and do your best. Seek professional development opportunities that are in alignment with where you want your career to go.

Recruiters and Hiring Managers: Older seasoned professionals have great value to offer your client or organization. Please stop counting them out. They are still in the game and many of them are all-stars, well worth your consideration.

If someone does not currently need CDPD’s services but they want to contribute to your mission, how can they help?

• Come provide some virtual community service by leading a presentation in our group. We host all types of professionals and entrepreneurs. Teach us something you know well, or simply stop by and tell us the story of your professional career journey. Personal stories are powerful and offer our members encouragement and hope. Send me an email!
• Join our group and provide informal support to members by engaging with them in our community. Our members have questions and seek advice on countless topics and areas.
• Make a financial donation via Patreon. CDPD is a locally registered charity in Washington, DC. 501(c) filing is pending and anticipated before the end of the calendar year.