About US
Sharing a message of inspiration and hope with the leaders across the country
Growing organizations through coaching and technical assistance
Hasan Davis, J.D. and Dreama Gentry, J.D. formed a partnership to provide coaching, technical assistance and support to organizations that work to ensure educational equity and success. Davis and Gentry each bring more than twenty-five years of experience transforming systems in rural and urban places, inspiring students to hope and achieve, and reminding educators and community members they are ‘hope dealers’ with the power to transform lives.
A. HASAN DAVIS, J.D.
Author, Trainer, Performer,
Youth Advocate, Hope Dealer
A Vision To See All Children Reach Their Greatest Potential
For more than 25 years, Hasan has held to the belief that each child can and will succeed as long as adults in their world create hope. Starting as a counselor and a teaching artist, and through his years as a youth development specialist, Hasan has transformed the attitudes and strategies of school and facility staff, parents, and members of the community to help hundreds of children graduate from high school and go on to earn degrees from colleges and universities.
In addition to his work at schools, Hasan has been Commissioner of Juvenile Justice for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Vice Chair of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice, and an organizational consultant. With this experience, he has transformed organizations and public systems to ensure they have the capacity to not only meet the needs of the children and families they serve, but also are transparent and set metrics and methods of accountability.
Bringing History Alive
Hasan brings history alive and gives voice to overlooked heroes of color through his theatrical performances of:
--York: Explorer on the Lewis and Clark expedition
--A.A. Burleigh: Civil War Soldier who escaped enslavement to Join the Union Forces of the American Civil War
--Joe Louis: America’s Champion
Hasan’s one-man shows are a superb example of experiential, interactive learning that is engaging for adults as well as youth. Hasan has presented to groups ranging from corporations, colleges, historical organizations, public libraries, schools, prisons, to churches in over 37 states.
Hasan has been honored as an Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children and Families Fellow, a Council of State Governments, Henry Toll fellow and a Rockefeller Foundation, Next Generation Leadership fellow.
Hasan, a G.E.D. recipient, earned a Bachelor’s degree from Berea College and a Law Degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law. He lives in Berea, Kentucky with his wife Dreama Gentry and their children Malcolm and Christopher.
Hear Hasan reflect on his difficult childhood and personal growth in this clip from Lexington’s Public Television Station.
Dreama Gentry, J.D.
President and CEO of
Partners for Rural Impact
Gentry founded Partners for Rural Impact to ensure rural students have the opportunity to fulfill their educational aspirations, and the national dialogue around educational success includes rural voices. A first-generation college graduate from Appalachia, Gentry is an Annie E. Casey Children and Family Fellow and a Prichard Committee Equity Coalition member, among other honors.
Under Gentry’s leadership, Partners for Rural Education has grown from two people working with an annual budget of $300,000 to nearly 500 people deploying more than $40 million in resources each year in Appalachian Kentucky.
Gentry designs projects by building on six core strategies: engaging families, lifting educational aspirations, building academic skills, connecting college and career, building organizational capacity and shaping a rural agenda.
A noted expert on rural education, educational intermediaries and innovative educational programming, Gentry is a featured speaker on topics as diverse as place-based programs, rural education, equitable access for rural students and rural schools, and developing cross-sector partnerships to ensure student success.
As a member of the equity coalition convened by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, Gentry helped establish a Kentucky Statewide Family Engagement Center. She also served on the rural advisory committee for SCORE, the State Collaborative for Reforming Education in Tennessee.
Through the annual Rural College Access and Success Summit, Gentry brings together practitioners and leaders from more than 30 states across the nation to share inspirations and ideas for improving the educational opportunities available to students from rural communities. An Annie E. Casey Children and Family Fellow, she also serves on the board of directors for the Pine Mountain Settlement School, and Fahe, a community development non-profit.
Gentry holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Berea College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky. She lives in Berea, Kentucky with her husband Hasan Davis and their children Malcolm and Christopher.