about us

About Our Founder

Sarad Davenport, CAPM
Founder/Chief Innovation Officer

Sarad Davenport is a social innovator, content creator, and human-centered designer with a track record of producing positive population-level outcomes. He has a long history of developing and accelerating cross-sector partnerships using asset-based community development practices. 

Sarad served as the founding director of the Charlottesville Promise Neighborhood, also known as City of Promise, a federal Department of Education planning grant recipient. Sarad spent more than five years working with key stakeholders to build City of Promise into a sustainable and outcomes-driven organization focused on improving life-outcomes for youth and families in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Before going into business full-time, Sarad served as the Vice President of Operations at TMI Consulting, Inc. a diversity and inclusion management firm in Richmond, Virginia. Prior to joining TMI, Sarad served as Principal for Organizational Health & Performance at the Communities In Schools National Office (CIS National), where he provided technical and operational support to non-profit leaders throughout the country. While at CIS National, Sarad also served on the Health & Economic Mobility policy group at the Brookings Institute. In addition, Sarad co-lead collective impact work with national partners, Strive Together and the Coalition for Community Schools. 

When Sarad is not working or spending quality time with his family, he is an entrepreneur, co-leading Vinegar Hill Magazine, a media company. Vinegar Hill Magazine, in partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow and In My Humble Opinion talk show, was chosen as one of the North American winners of the Google News Initiative to support the launch of the Charlottesville Inclusive Media project (CIM). Sarad is viewed by the partners as one of the primary architects of CIM which has been recognized nationally for its work in promoting inclusive media. 

Sarad is a certified project manager and has worked at the local, regional and national levels to improve systems, workflows, and processes for organizations and institutions. Sarad serves as the Marketing Chair on the Board of the United Way of Greater Charlottesville and is on the Communities In Schools Board state office of Virginia.  

Through all of his endeavors, Sarad credits his faith as what has strengthened and sustained him along the way. One of Sarad’s favorite quotes comes from philosopher, theologian, and educator Howard Thurman, who once wrote “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”