Derek Rhodes

Derek Rhodes is a keynote speaker, civic leader, and social entrepreneur who helps organizations, universities, and emerging leaders develop institutional literacy — the discipline of reading power, incentives, and culture inside the rooms that matter. An MBA Candidate of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, a Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE) Fellow, and a Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) Fellow, Rhodes brings rare credibility to every stage: he has not only navigated elite institutions from the inside, but walked away from them to build something of his own.

Rhodes's path is a case study in purpose-driven decision-making. After graduating from Duke with a degree in Public Policy, he held internships at the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House — where President Obama personally recognized his contributions in an East Room press briefing. He went on to hold roles at Google, the Miami HEAT, the Obama Foundation's My Brother's Keeper Alliance, and Microsoft before making a defining choice: he left a Chief of Staff role at Microsoft after three months to return to his hometown of Durham, NC, and build something that mattered.

In 2020, Rhodes founded the Durham Success Summit, a leadership and workforce development organization for young Black men ages 16–24 that has grown into one of the region's most recognized programs for underrepresented youth — earning him a spot on the Triangle Business Journal's 40 Under 40 list.

He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Wilson Center at Duke Law, speaks regularly at universities, MBA programs, and private high schools across the country, and publishes The New Standard, a newsletter on institutional literacy and civic leadership.

Rhodes is also the author of "Jimmy for the City," a children's book on community leadership and civic engagement.