Dominique Davis is the founder and CEO of Community Passageways. He received his PhD in the streets, from the University of Rainier and Henderson.
Dominique was a gifted football player, who had to make the decision between his dream to play professionally or survive, he chose the latter. Even though he was involved in making quick money, he had a desire to give back through coaching and personal training. In time, he decided he needed to do no more harm to the community and he was going to be a positive contributor. Dominique served as Co-Director of the Choose 180 Program from 2011 to 2016, which was named 2015 Best New Nonprofit by Seattle Foundation and Seattle Met Magazine under his leadership.
In 2016, Dominique established Community Passageways, after multiple gun related deaths and incidents on Rainier Avenue. He knew felony diversion would be a foundational and life changing juncture for young people and he developed a four-prong approach – prevention, diversion, incarceration (support) and re-entry. The first program started in 2017 with a few youth and young adults, to date, Community Passageways serves over 500 young people a year with multiple programs, including school based, court advocacy, diversion, community support (emergency response), gang intervention, healing circles, youth advocacy, and family support.
Dominique often says it will take the community to heal the community--we are the ones we have been waiting for.
Community Passageways is driven by the belief that guidance and support are more effective in inspiring people to make positive choices, seeing their unlimited potential and envisioning a future where they can live their lives fully. We want to break institutional racist systems. Dominique believes those closest to the problem can solve the problem!
Awards:
— NW Justice Forum's 2017 Restorative Justice Award
— One of the Most Influential Seattleites of 2017 by Seattle Magazine.