MEET KOBI
BRINGING PEOPLE TO THE POLICY
A father of three.
A Gulf War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy.
A visionary.
A youth advocate.
A Black man, husband, son, brother and mentor.
A purposed-disruptor for equity.
A businessman and homeowner.
A community leader.
A proud product of Providence public schools.
Your needed School Board member for the North (Region 2, which encompasses Providence’s 4th, 5th and 14th Wards.
Night Vision, which provided care and services at night for inner city youth, was one of Dennis' first programs. It was established in 2010 on a street corner with less than a dozen kids, and grew to more than 5,000 participating youth by 2017.
Dennis, born and raised in South Providence, also centered his careers around advancing, educating and empowering our youth. He was a contractor for Partnership to Address Violence Through Education, an anti-bullying program; a contractor at Providence Head Start; an instructor at the Rhode Island Training School; and a case worker at Tri-Town Community Action. Most recently, he was chief operations officer and diversity, equity and inclusion lead at the Greater Providence YMCA.
His unwavering dedication led to more than 40 awards and citations, but to him, what matters most is progress.
“I have said this before,” he said, “the children in our communities are looking for consistency. In the adult world, we like to frame it as ‘sustainability.’ No matter the choice in words, they need it. They deserve it.”
Dennis continued, “By being on the School Board, I can help ensure their needs as well as parents’ and teachers' needs remain at the forefront. I can also improve the communication to our families by bringing the policy to the community.”
These ten truths only partially explain who Kobi J. Dennis is. Another is committed, committed to increasing the opportunities for our city’s youth and fighting for more school investments, safety, transparency and communication.
"When I look into the eyes of the kids in my neighborhood,” Dennis told a reporter back in 2011, “I know there’s promise, and I don’t think there are enough people trying to bring out that promise."
The Central High School graduate created or partnered with others to establish multiple opportunities and programs for Providence’s often neglected youth and communities of color. They include Project Night Vision, RI Midnight Basketball League, Unified Solutions RI, TurnUp RI, Princes2Kings, Pave, Goodwill Industries RI, Black Pilots of RI and CultureFestRI. Project
