Meet Jermel President | Executive Director, DAE Foundation

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jermel President and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jermel, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Growing up, I always had the skill of being able to talk with people, and I was a good student. The other natural skill I had was athletic, and I was good at basketball. My thoughts of what work or a career looked like became primarily focused on that, and I looked at basketball as my career potential. There were people and programs in the community that were influential in shaping me.

As I entered middle school, more distractions were introduced, and I became a father at 15 years old. started working jobs like dishwashing at restaurants so that I could buy diapers and formula. My athletic career goals felt impossible. But again, my community rallied around me, and after graduating high school, I got a scholarship to play basketball at the College of Charleston with Coach John Kresse. After college, I had a professional basketball career and was coached by NBA Hall of Fame Forward Rick Barry.

I started the DAE Foundation so that I could help pass along all of the skills and training I’d received from so many important people in my life, and also what I’d learned from the experiences that I had. And as that mission expanded, I realized, all students should have this kind of access, not just the ones who excel at athletics. My passion is passing along the mental and emotional abilities that have allowed me to overcome the obstacles I have faced and thrive.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The DAE Foundation was founded in 1999 to educate and train student-­athletes to become skilled, effective, and responsible citizens of their communities. We met the needs of student­-athletes in a holistic manner, combining innovative basketball skills training with an emphasis on moral character, academic progress, social competence, and overall physical and mental health. Over the years, we have heard time and again from parents of our student athletes that the social competence development has been one of the most rewarding and important parts of our programs.

Recently, we have heard from our community partners – parents, educators, employers – that the soft skills needed to be a successful citizen were lacking considerably in young people. This has been especially true since COVID, when the changes in children’s activities impacted their social skills development and learning how to navigate being around different kinds of people was disrupted.

In 2023, we expanded our training program to include all students in our social competency program. We introduce students to concepts like effective communication, attention to detail, goal setting, teamwork, and problem solving to help build a foundation in the social competencies that will help them be able to adjust to the situations they will face. While we still work with student athletes on their specific training needs, providing the social competency program to all students has been a really rewarding new addition to our services.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am a foodie, and I love to cook. I buy fresh seafood daily, and often visit Captain Don’s for caught daily items.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Dr. Roger Newman is my mentor and friend. He is a nationally known leader in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Maas Endowed Chair for Reproductive Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. I orginally started workign with Roger over 20 years ago when I trained his daughter, an All-Region basketball player at the Academic Magnet High School. Since then, we have worked together to provide basketball skills training, educational assistance, and nutritional advisories to positively influence young lives in our community.

In 2014, Roger began writing the fiction series of Dr. Declan Murphy, medical thrillers entitled “Occam’s Razor,” “Two Drifters”, and “What Becomes”. In 2021, he published a historical fiction novel about a Charleston-based Civil War blockade runner entitled “Will O’ the Wisp: Madness, War, and Recompense”. Besides medicine and writing, Roger remains involved as a high school basketball coach for 7 years at the Academic Magnet High School and at Charleston Collegiate School on John’s Island.

Roger has been a guiding influence, mentor, and partner on my journey that I have always been able to count upon for guidance and support.

Website: https://www.daefoundation.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daefoundation

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JermelPresident

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jermelpresident9891