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Civic Engagement Conference: Keynote Speaker
Dennis M. Walcott
President & CEO, Queens Public Library
The Civic Engagement Conference welcomes Dennis M. Walcott, as the featured keynote speaker. Since 2016, Mr. Walcott serves as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Queens Public Library, one of the nation's largest public library systems -- consisting of 66 locations, including branch libraries, a Central Library, seven adult learning centers, a technology lab at the Queensbridge public housing complex, a community learning center at the Ravenswood public housing complex, and five teen centers. The institution employs over 1,400 full and part-time workers.
He has spent his entire career in public service and education.
Prior to joining the Library, Mr. Walcott served as the state-appointed monitor of the East Ramapo School District, advising the NYS Education Department on reforms and improvements to ensure more effective and equitable service for the district’s students. In 2014, he was named Honorary Distinguished Fellow at the University of the West Indies and he has been an adjunct professor at Fordham University's graduate program The Fordham Center for Nonprofit Leaders. From 2011 through 2013, Mr. Walcott served as Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, where he led transformational change across the nation’s largest school system, which serves more than 1.1 million students in 1,800 schools across the five boroughs.
Prior to his appointment as Chancellor, Mr. Walcott served as Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development during the Bloomberg Administration, overseeing and coordinating the operations of the Department of Education, the New York City Housing Authority, the Department of Youth and Community Development and the Mayor’s Office of Adult Education. He served on the board of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, was the Board Chair of NYC's Fund for Public Education, and previously served as Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Commission for Construction Opportunity. Before working at City Hall, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Urban League for more than 12 years, where he expanded educational and youth service programs, including Jeter’s Leaders, Bridge to Brotherhood, Healthy Start, Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership, and the 140th Street Building Block Program. He began his career as a kindergarten teacher.