Dwayne R. Matthews Digital Portfolio
Hometown: Little Rock Arkansas
Bachelors degree: Sociology
Masters degree: Community and Economic Development
Contact: Dwaynelr87@gmail.com
PANELS AND SPEAKING EVENTS
A very important part of my job is public speaking to talk about the importance of diversity and inclusion in international service, and the world at large. As well as attracting and engaging individuals about the many benefits of Peace Corps. I have spoken on panels at:
The White House
Conference on Asian Pacific Island Leadership (CAPAL)
Emerge Latino Conference
State Department
White House Initiative on HBCU's
African Union Mission
Association of Professional Skills Association (APSIA)
CREATIVITY IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
While serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi; I realized that I was the first African American male that many Malawians ever met. Secondly, many of the young Malawians thought I was a rapper or entertainer. I decided to use this stereotype to my advantage and create a program called METHOD which stands for Malawian Empowerment Through Hip-Hop and Organizational Development. I partnered with the Malawi Government and the Ministry of Health to create a safe space for young people living with HIV/AIDS to get services that they needed from health professionals.
METHOD was such a success among the young people in Malawi, the Malawian Government requested that I create a space for at risk youth. I wrote a PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) grant to get the money to build the youth center. In order for the youth center to be sustained, the community had to contribute 75% in sweat equity. Which is what happen, the community and I made the youth center a huge success, where we were able to build a fully functioning youth center in 3 months.
PARTNERSHIPS/ COLLABORATIONS
As a Diversity Recruiter, I've been fortunate to spearhead and establish relationships with organizations that reflect my outreach practices to reach different demographics and communities.
As a Peace Corps Volunteer I collected vintage sneakers from the flea market in Malawi and was able to leverage my findings to do a speaking engagement with SneakerCon to facilitate a panel on "Traveling the world and learning about sneakers" as a creative way to emphasize Peace Corps and show representation from someone of the culture.
Secondly, I partnered with the Kennedy Center to cross promote a play entitled "Barbershop Chronicles" that takes place in barbershops in Africa, as a clever way of promoting and advertising my HBCU Barbershop Tour.
As part of my HBCU Barbershop Tour, I was able to collaborate with the Barber Shop Chronicles theatrical presentation in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center.
BOARD MEMBER OF A NONPROFIT
I served as a board member of a Hip Hop Based nonprofit where the organization uses Hip-Hop as a tool for social justice. Mission: We are unapologetic advocates for the transformative power of Hip-Hop culture in all its forms, empowering artists to relentlessly create and refine systems that demonstrate positive change through our individual and collective brilliance. We embrace the sacred nature of our work and our roles as keepers and innovators of our culture.