Leadership speaker · author · coach

Lead from yourCalling.

The 7 C’s of Deep End Leadership. A framework for leaders ready to move beyond playing it safe and create lasting impact.

Watch Shawn’s TEDx talk

7Cs Leadership Course

“There is no cavalry coming.”

We are the leaders we have been waiting for, and curators of the change we’re seeking to see.

Shawn Dove

A career in service, alongside organizations including

The book

I Too Am
America

On Loving and Leading Black Men & Boys

Equal parts memoir and historical telling, I Too Am America explores the Black Male Achievement movement and what it takes to lead through crisis toward change.

Shawn Dove and Nick Chiles bring compelling stories, lived experience, and empathy to the page, offering insights for people committed to loving, leading, and creating a better future for Black men and boys.

“Shawn graciously shares his lessons of leadership, love, and sacrifice for the world to see and learn from.”

Wes Moore
New York Times bestselling author

Get your copy

Discover the book

The signature keynote

Go deeper.Lead with
real impact.

You’ve had success. That’s not the same as impact.

I’ve spent 30 years helping leaders stop treading water in the shallow end. Real influence, the kind that outlasts a title, shows up when you’re willing to go deep.

The 7 C’s of Deep End Leadership gives your audience a language and a roadmap for leading through real complexity. Calling. Courage. Completion. Credibility. Collaboration. Change. Coaching.

Shawn brings urgency to the room without leaving accountability behind. His message invites leaders to act on their calling, treat vulnerability as a strength, and complete the work their communities need.

For nonprofit, philanthropic, association, and university audiences

Check Shawn’s availability

More about Shawn’s speaking

Shawn Dove at the Baruch College commencement

Shawn Dove helps leaders in nonprofits, philanthropy, associations, and universities answer their calling, embrace vulnerability, and turn urgency into action.

Lead from your calling

Your influence begins with the work you are called to do. Shawn helps leaders connect their purpose to the people and communities they serve.

Lead with vulnerability

Strength includes the courage to be honest, welcome change, and receive coaching. That is where leaders grow, and where trust begins.

Act with accountability

Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Pair the courage to begin with the accountability to complete the work that matters.

Featured in

“Shawn Dove is one of the nation’s top leaders in Black male achievement. His sacrificial work and service was a catalyst for igniting a movement that developed and empowered black leaders like myself to bring healing to our communities.”

Jason Wilson

Founder of The Cave of Adullam · bestselling author of Cry Like a Man

Praise for I Too Am America

The course

Go beyond the keynote.The 7 C’s of
Deep End Leadership

A framework for the work that begins when the event ends.

Course in development

Make the framework part of how you lead.

The 7 C’s of Deep End Leadership is being developed into courseware so leaders can continue exploring the framework beyond the keynote.

From answering your calling to welcoming coaching, these seven qualities give you a shared language for the work ahead.

Enrollment details will be announced when the course is ready.

Show Me My Next Deep-end move

The 7 C’s

Calling
Courage
Completion
Credibility
Collaboration
Change
Coaching

AboutShawn Dove

He leads from a calling, not a job title.

For more than three decades, Shawn has worked at the intersection of leadership, community, and lasting change. His work is grounded in a conviction: the leaders we are waiting for are already here.

As CEO of the Campaign for Black Male Achievement for 12 years, Shawn helped build a national movement that grew to nearly 6,000 individual and 3,000 organizational members and leveraged more than $212 million in national and local funding.

His leadership is also personal. He treats vulnerability as a strength, embraces change and coaching, and asks leaders to pair urgency with accountability. “There is no cavalry coming” is an invitation to take responsibility for the change we want to see.

Today, Shawn brings those lessons to the stage, to the page, and to the 7 C’s of Deep End Leadership.

Book Shawn to speak

Shawn’s story

30+Years of leadership

6,000+Movement members

$212M+National funding leveraged