The Personal and the Proximate: The Story of Aimée Eubanks Davis

New Profit’s #InclusiveImpact campaign is a digital dialogue series aimed at expanding on, and creating dialogue around, the concepts that are core to our Inclusive Impact strategy. The phrase “proximity is expertise,” which acknowledges that the people who are most proximate to the problems that we seek to solve have the expertise, knowledge, and talent needed to solve them, is central to this strategy. Here, Aimée Eubanks Davis, CEO of Braven, explores the power of proximate impact, which she draws from her personal experiences and through the founding of Braven.

It was pretty early on that I realized I was extremely fortunate. As a little girl, I watched my mother, who was newly widowed, chart a new path forward for our family. Determined to overcome loss and create a better life for my sister Rebekah and I, she decided to leave her career in education. For what, she did not know other than a more flexible schedule that allowed her to care for us.

She went back to school to take business classes, and in one of her classes, she met a man who asked to copy her notes while he was away from class. She learned he was into buying small properties, fixing them up, and selling them. He asked her out; and before long, they ended up not only tying the knot in marriage but also in business.

Those classes, along with property she and my stepdad purchased, put my family back on the path to the American Dream. And, I began to experience new opportunities that higher incomes and zip codes afforded. Moving from Chicago South Side’s neighborhood to a more affluent suburb, I realized quickly that all students had access to educational opportunities I had never before imagined. These ranged from AP classes to learning how to canoe on the school pond as a part of our physical education course.

I always felt it was unfair that my childhood friends like Dana and Ebony, who were just as worthy of expanded opportunities, did not have access to them. They did nothing wrong and deserved also to have access to the same opportunities I experienced. Because of this belief, I have dedicated my career to ensuring all young people, regardless of the neighborhoods in which they were born and grew up, have a real shot at the American Dream.

After college, I taught a group of incredibly talented 6th graders in Pre-Katrina New Orleans through Teach For America (TFA). I assured them that they could live the lives they dreamt of, if they dedicated themselves to their academic pursuits and obtaining a college degree would be the equivalent of winning the lottery.

Years later, when this group of students began to graduate from college, I was so excited for them (and their families) to reap the rewards of their hard work and years of schooling. At this time, I was leading Teach For America’s human capital work, where we were seeing tens of thousands of candidates, including some of my former students, apply to the teaching corps and staff.

To my surprise, many of these talented young people did not make it through TFA’s selection bar, which was beyond disheartening. And even more so when I realized that it was a much bigger problem through research I did for a fellowship. I was shocked: millions of first-generation college graduates were not obtaining strong jobs after college.

I knew these young people, just like those from my childhood, were talented and would make great employees if they were given the chance. But, they weren’t landing the opportunities because they lacked the career-preparation skills that their wealthier peers had access to through their personal networks—things like preparing for a job interviewing, building a resume, and networking. Many also lacked confidence when telling their stories because they weren’t seeing their own strengths, like being able to work full time while taking a full course load, and how those would translate to the workplace.

Truly believing in their ability and knowing that career readiness, including the soft skills, could be taught like any other class (from my own experience as a former history and English teacher) led me to found the nonprofit Braven. Braven helps college students from humble beginnings—those who are low-income, first in their family to go to college, receive PELL grants, and often students of color—graduate from college and land strong first jobs that put them on the path to economic freedom through a credit-bearing course where students develop the skills, experiences and networks they need to land a strong first job. Fellows have access to ongoing support throughout college and even after graduation.

I reflect on my personal and professional experience often. Would I be here doing the work that I am doing today had it not been for my personal experience? How big of a role did proximity to expertise play in my career trajectory?

I strongly believe that all of my life and work experiences led me to where I am destined to be. My personal experience taught me that social and information capital come with money and education and made me want to pay it forward. My TFA experience gave me a unique understanding of why talented young people weren’t landing strong roles. It led me to dig deeper into the college-to-career challenge and helped me to realize it was a solvable problem that could be intentionally taught. It also helped me identify concrete ways to address the issue, positively impacting 2,700 Fellows and hundreds of students who have participated in the COVID-19 Braven Booster to date as a result.

I also see the incredible value of those who have different views or come from different experiences; the strength of our country has always been in our diversity. Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with individuals from all walks of life who have challenged my beliefs and thus pushed my thinking. I’ve been part of diverse coalitions that have brought about positive change.

At Braven one of our core values is to Go Together, Go Further. I find comfort knowing that our unique perspectives and skillsets allow us to make progress in big and small ways.

To read more about Aimée’s story, click here. For further reading from our grantee-partners on the power of proximity, click here to learn about Alejandro Gibes de Gac from Springboard Collaborative.