Justin Ferrell and Elsabe Dixon

00:06 I'm Nina Dixon 26 years old storycorps on October 12th 2014 in Danville, Virginia, and I'm here with my coworker Justin.

00:21 Oh, I'm Justin Ferrell. I'm 26. Today is October 12th 2014 in Danville, Virginia with my beautiful coworker.

00:38 Sometime I'll just send since you're my coworker. Maybe we could start with some questions about how you got here. First of all, you're from Danville right? Were you born here? I was Nineteen eighty-eight. Well, maybe we could just start off with an easy question. Do you like your job? What are you do so I know where I'm going to Fellowship then reason foundation and my title Fishel is Service Learning and community service. So my job is to implement service-learning in the K to 12 curriculum public schools and maybe private if they want and also so I can find some co-working spaces to Hope and to help create that that entrepreneur that Innovative space in downtown, Danville.

01:31 Why you think that's important job to have this important?

01:38 I think it's important because we got engaged Community know we got engaged community and this is it sets the stage for young people being able to say. Hey service line cheating it not only teaches a student with a learning school, but it also helps them to implement what they learn in school and service within the community. So when you have a ton of kids engaged in their Community, then they're more likely to come back to the community are more likely to go away to college to education and then invest in the area that invested in them in a co-working space. I think that's important because it allows for those students and those parents and in other people in a community that have a space outside of their home where they can go when they can interact with people they can create that they can become the next few jobs and next Bill Gates become a entrepreneur in Scituate.

02:35 What were you like in school in high school? I was I was a jock nice job, you know, I was a guy that you know, I was I was too quiet guy play football Russell couple years ran track in high school years and all of my love was basketball and not played that in elementary middle school, but I just didn't hit that peak of height in order for me being me bad. We're so really in school. I was just a real studious type person respectful person to the teachers in and I the other students even though you were in Danville group in Danville.

03:35 Is how big was I high school this maybe maybe 300 400 students. I don't think my class had to take it back. You might be 600 my class had a graduating number of 140 350 someone something like any of the programs that were at Chatham High helped you come back to this area cuz you went away to call a train. I went to DC first went to Liberty and transfer from Liberty University to Old Dominion diversity and finish their I don't necessarily think that a program at school help me come back, but it was the people that I met in particular. It was a lady in the cafeteria.

04:20 I cannot remember her name and I said she was a sweetest lady in the world cannot remember her name, but she engaged me and a volunteer opportunities.

04:30 And from there I decided just so you know do a little bit more volunteering and then you start meeting other people. That's the local in double ACP in the you know, your local civil rights activist decide to help them out and it was beneficial it helped me see where I was at in life where I wanted to be and I got a little bit of trouble when I was younger. So it help bridge the ideas of what I had and where I wanted to go and what I said that me, you know when a better community, so I came back to this community. Because of high school, but I came back because of outside influences. Where is this cafeteria?

05:19 I have to go to the high school. She was at Chatham High. I wish I could remember her name. I feel like her name might have been the best. I mean, I would let her know that she played a part in helping me become active.

05:40 Do you think it's important that you came back here?

05:44 I think it's important that everyone spends time.

05:48 Coming back to a area that invested in them. I don't think it's necessarily have to stay but I think that given back to a area, you know, it is definitely our it becomes empowering to the community of self. You know, we have this is the saying it takes a village to raise a child, but we don't realize that it takes a village to raise a village.

06:13 What do you mean by that Dustin? I mean in a village in order for Danville to move to the next level in order for Pittsylvania County casual. Can we move to the next level? It's going to take those same Village as those same communities to build each other up. It takes it takes the communities within Danville. It takes your Windsor Heights at Forest Hill communities. It takes your your Almay brow Community. It takes I know these are the Shadow Wood communities in to build each other up in order for gamble to grow in in Caswell County. It takes you into going to Milton to build each other up in order for that came to grow something of his man County help with Ringgold Southern in Chatham and Gretna and it takes those individual unknown unheard faces to build up a community.

07:07 What you smiling for?

07:13 So do you think that you're doing what you really want to do career-wise right now kind of Janus community service service learning building Community. Is there something another career you ever had in mind? I believe my next move will be law school. But this road of philanthropy is amazing, you know, you get to see Economic Development changes and process you get to see Community Development changes in process. It's it's so impactful of the things that you get a chance to see I think that where I'm at in life right now and then I can have a job somewhere pan and millions and millions of dollars, but the experience and I'm gaining down far outweighs any monetary facade success.

08:04 Simply because it allows for me to impact the greater good and learning under the people that are on work under carlstar group Clark and steel Wendy Iverson daughter Mackenzie learn from them. And then the board members you look at Ben Davenport Charlie Majors Wayne Wilson, Tammy warned you look at how these individuals and you see how their minds that processes in his is phenomenal.

08:38 Have you learned anything from Carl on the since you've been working at the Danville Regional Foundation since June Justin? I think you might want to see if you can get some cardboard type posters instead of the regular paper post. Is it going to rain?

08:59 I said yeah you so I can find it. I'll be doggone if it didn't ring. But no really the one thing that I've learned from called.

09:08 Is a how to

09:15 What structure and in being strategic means, you know the foundation and and what a team means, you know, those structure strategy and team seems to play a part in everything and it's a major influence on success when you look at the foundation and what causes it has been able to do with the foundation. His team is the program offices and the staff that he's assembled. His team is the board that that brought calls her table. Well is Carl's job also to help not get out in front of the board, but help show the direction of the foundation through the board and it's a program officers job to help impact that the directions. So what I see. We call is being able to see strategy.

10:08 Instruction teamwork in place and you see the how the endowment started Supply two hundred million dollars and doing the recession. I think a drop-down nearly close to a hundred and fifty million and they are endowment is well over 200 million and that's within the course of three or four years. So it's amazing to see what putting a team together and developing a strong strategy can get your organization.

10:36 I love you transfer what you learn from Carl to your work.

10:41 You still cultivated ghost? You don't have a lease. And so how do you come and see us working as a team?

11:16 On your own my side.

11:20 I'll look at.

11:23 I look at my work and that team, you know, if we have any of us needs anything, you know, perfect example was other day with the repetition Festival this weekend and Elise. She I needed help at least was there and she said okay come on Johnson and I'll help you out. So she helped me put signs out posters up. Yes. She was phenomenal that in this part of teamwork.

11:53 And then look at the board pipeline project. They were working on and how you were able to sell cable or hot how the strategy division was given to us from call. The strategy was put in place. You delivered the strategy and then how you and Alicia double back on each other and then I get a chance to look at it in really anything I'll do is correct with the exception of maybe a few things that I'll never call you when out on

12:30 So

12:32 Yeah, I think that's teamwork with us. How do you say like, what do you think you bring to the workplace, especially considering because I feel like our fellowship. I mean so we've got these one to two-year fellowships at the foundation and they're kind of not exactly program officer. So we aren't really but it's mainly I mean, I think the fellowships far is Danville Regional Foundation Pole to bring young people back into the community, but and I think that we three were hired for very specific reasons, but I would love to hear what you think the reason they hired each of us.

13:18 I don't know. I mean, I think they hired you because you're you do good at history during your great historian your ideas of culture or very broad-minded harder at least because you know, she's raising regions profile. So

13:37 She's had a great a great girl love of experiencing and

13:42 And working in NPR and in and developing and analyzing things and trying to put organizations out in the front line and she's got to do that in the city.

13:56 Me I don't I really don't necessarily know. Sometimes you supposed to sit outside of yourself and look back and see yourself, but I haven't done that. I think that what I do, well is I work with or I'm able to grab

14:13 Everyone's attention. Yeah. I'm not just got out of a diverse person. And so I feel that I'm a guy that I can sit in a boardroom with a suit on and in a tie at the same time. I need to leave at boardroom. I can take the tire off and do my earrings in and go walk through the hood. Yeah. So as for that connection to the community that we don't let Elise and I could never get at least. Can you imagine her walking into the hood or even me? I think we tried to get you to walk through who ignore you at least went to a party at least you went to the party and you know.

15:04 Have you spent a great deal of the day with me had a good time? Yeah, I think I don't think that there's any such thing as a group or the other but when you said, you know, I'm a diverse individual. I think that that's that ought to be true for most people that they can be with people from different groups and still feel comfortable and have that pole.

15:28 Oh, yeah, definitely Telegram.

15:36 Going to ask me anything Justin.

15:39 What do you think?

15:41 How would your job impact this community?

15:47 I mean we have the Confederate flag issue. We have the devil you can assist you. And what is your job?

16:01 I do in this Fellowship the region in general.

16:07 That's a good question. It's that's a lot of pressure for a fella showed that last 2 years, but I think that you can get people started talking about things that maybe they wouldn't have before so I my fellowship part of it is that oral history project. So to have people coming together to talk about their past and talk about their history, especially in this area where they if most recently experienced something that's been very traumatic the leaving of having sex.

16:44 So to get them to talk about that and to think about that, I'm not sure that it will make a big impact. I'm not sure that my job that I alone and in one to two years can change much but I can try and maybe I can Inspire someone who will make that change.

17:04 Wow does a star?

17:07 Stephanie and power is powerful and hopefully what comes out of them is what kind of comes out of the interviews is the fact that people are thinking about things that no one ever asked them and could you can uncover those thoughts unless someone asks you to do that. It's hard to get outside of yourself to look at yourself outside of yourself. And that's what's nice about things like this is that if you have someone kind of asking you different questions that you would never ask yourself.

17:45 Also, just I mean

17:49 I like just being back in Danville. I was in Chicago for a while and that was cold out there. And so have a job not even just for one to two years that gives me back. I miss reason you're not really care about making an impact you have this pole to give back to the community that gave that gave a lot to you, but I think you like it here and I think you've got a lot of family ties and friends and your eyeball the majority my family's here. I've had some to move up North for recently. I think of it similar to Plato's caves and you have a bunch of images of when a wall that someone is just giving you Denver Mills for years.

18:45 Gave people the sense of what success look like, you know and the deck heat on Green Street on Washington Street has a sense of what success looks like and it takes sometimes an individual to pull that personal to open the to move that rock and allow that one person out. So that one person can actually see what success truly looks like, you know often times when you growing up and you know me being a young black guy growing up in a single-parent household and I'm having a 17 and worried hand Danville. It was eight of us that live in a two-bedroom house on Beaver Street.

19:31 Success to us look like he's a damn room meals, you know because you're able to live life in the middle class situations below middle class situation, but somehow you still on food stamps now, so you may be really didn't meet that middle-class qualification. And then you are you you have another sense of success is that guy down the street that is driving the BMW or the bands and then his his car has rims is how it has all your latest Technologies and he's a drug dealer, you know, so it is it's to me coming back getting out of outside the cave and coming back to Danville and now been able to take those kids are still in the cave and just driving around so you can see what Southwick looks like, you know that the homes they are and what a million-dollar home in Windsor Heights looks like you're the home in Forest Hills look like you know, so they

20:31 See that guy, you know that there are black doctors black lawyers and then they can obtain these things and it takes a lot of hard work in a long time, but your things are attainable in life. So that's how I view Danville. That's why I came back and now in a sense of liberation of me being here. I pray that God guides me in a great Direction in my life, but no matter what happens. I just want my impact to be on knowing on someone if the end of your life.

21:14 You on your deathbed me like okay. My life has I've made an impact. What would that life look like a life. That's made an impact. How would you measure that I guess?

21:27 Successful people

21:31 It's totally different.

21:35 Is possible

21:37 To have never obtained a high school diploma and be a success.

21:43 At times when I would give speeches or or motivational speeches are empowerment speeches how you want to say it to young people often times would say that just be respectful be a productive citizen. So I guess my goal if I can get everyone that I encounter or everything that I helped to create or help to manipulate to become a positive influence for the environment around them then I think I've done my job

22:17 Yeah.

22:19 It is possible that a janitor will be greater than a multi-billion dollar on canoe or simply because that janitor so little time on the streets and say pull your pants up and start a timer was hungry. So he fed Tommy and Tommy went on to become the doctor that took care of the janitor.

22:43 You know, so Warren Buffett is a great man.

22:49 Warren Buffett

22:51 Is very modest for what he have and he is he gives back on this guy gave 37 billion dollars. I ended giveaways until 4 last pick organizations and initiatives and with doing that I think of that success on a billionaire level, but if we can get everyone to be that janitor that just reaches back and pull someone else up and puts him ahead of the channel to push that person to have the janitor.

23:30 Then I think that that that whatever I touch if we can say it those initials have helped then it's been a success.

23:41 You talk about about like pulling people up, you know from a note or giving back and pulling people up and making them successful according to their own success their own ideas of success, but I wonder about how do you I really want to push you like, how do you think that what towns do you bring that will enable people to realize their own success what talents you bring to your job? Especially this one or just you and general? How are you helping?

24:12 Other people

24:14 I don't know. I think that everything I think the opportunities of

24:27 Getting people to see the possibilities, you know, maybe it's not that I'm the best.

24:37 You know it analyzing data.

24:40 Pretty good at it but I may not be the best. Maybe I'm not the best at writing that next multimillion-dollar grant that has create hell. Did you throw amazing youth program and Rachel?

25:05 But who is Rachel?

25:12 No, yeah, I know. I didn't realize I did not describe them. But anyway, I think what I bring to the table is.

25:24 And bring a leadership quality. That won't be tackled where it won't be seen for another 20 years.

25:33 I bring a motivation quality.

25:40 That a negotiating quality that won't be seen for another 20 years because they're in developing stages in life. And I feel that Perfection comes as you grow. So maybe it's that.

25:55 It's just the the work that I've done and it's my morals in my ethics and values that I bring to the table that works out like that. Maybe it was there ever a time when you could have been a drug dealer or a condom that different path of success.

26:21 Is a guy not going to call his name first name decks.

26:28 And he is in he's in jail now, but if it hadn't been for him.

26:36 I probably would have went down the same path of our been a drug dealer. Now. I was in high school. I see all my friends were wearing the the new was closing of the freshest clothes and see you know, my friends couldn't rentals in their cars. And here I am I had I had a newer model car and I was working at Outback and part-time and I was cutting hair and barber shop on the weekends. And yeah, but I still didn't have the money that they had a lot. He's drugged does hand on it man. I want to be like that and if it wasn't for him and I need a little break now, this is what you and you don't be like that song you better than that. She going to be the one to make it. So I think that him and alongside of saying so my cousin succeed it kept me from going in there right now cuz I might as a great man, so I saw his success without having to be that drug dealer.

27:36 Latarian in graduate from George Mason and now he's a government employee but his success comes not on there, but it's due to hardship said he had with his family. His upbringing and helping to raise his younger brothers and sister and then and in his dad, you're all about dads or will War on Drugs or on drugs. So it was a kind of tough as a for our upbringing and all aspects of our life says it we should either be in jail. If we were in a big city may be dead John Bush you even here in Danville, you tell a dead or you know, the homeless on the streets, but is it such a thought process that someone else helps you to develop that allows for you not to fall victim to those situations.

28:36 Call me probably about two hours ago. Just let me know if his head and my granddad is in the hospital. So I'm going to miss my Grandad today. You know, I don't want that. We haven't developed a great relationship. But now we see we'll see what the future has in store.

29:00 No, it's funny.

29:03 It's funny. I only have a few great memories of him and one memory and more specific was how he used to drive a car, you know, he had to Z 26 and I was like it was a it was a manual such thing as a 5-speed not like man. I want to drive a car just like that one day. You know, I'm going to see how you smoke a cigarette smoke a cigarette like that one day, you know and but now where I am in life, it's none of that, you know how to I don't I don't smoke never have smoke and I'm a complete opposite of a man what he was

29:44 It doesn't mean that he's even necessarily a horrible horrible guy, but we're just two different people kind of email and having to to be a measure of success in this role as kind of a black male.

30:09 My job in life is I was born into a fraternity was born to a fraternity of brothers that that that a few of us are blessed.

30:24 A few of us are blessed to grow into this fraternity of of Brothers come from a single parent a teenage mother and a single parent household. And then the other employees of this fraternity happens to be if your dad is on drugs if your mom is on Welfare, if your dad beat your mom if you grew up on food stamps or any other governmental assistance and my mom that she graduate from high school, she did have my 17 and I have a younger brother younger sister while Mom and Dad but she was never on any governmental assistance. Yeah.

31:05 And the only assistant that as a family received is when my mom and my aunt and uncle we all live together in the same house both families in the same house and food stamps are received that I know of but I remember Mom.

31:20 I was a little boy. She tells me the story all the time.

31:25 She just had me. I was maybe a year old two years old and where in the where in a laundromat and older white gentleman comes in and he said oh, it's my left a baby here and my mom says no sir. That's my son.

31:42 And the guys he walks out says what I hope you're not on welfare.

31:48 And my mom about on that day to not receive government assistance.

31:56 And interesting thing there is

31:59 Where she's never received government assistance, she's always driven us to become better than what an assistance could be. So looking at this for me that I was born into looking at.

32:16 The

32:18 The the the effects of this fraternity

32:22 Are the Fraternal organization that is unknown?

32:27 Looking at the neighborhoods that we are in is my job being just one entity of this organization of this fraternity is my job to be the best example that I can be for someone so that we can end this for eternity.

32:51 Does that mean that you hope that you your level of Success is Not relying and anybody else to kind of player up your self up by your own bootstraps, and that's what if

33:03 Ambition, very ambitious. I am very definitely very ambitious.

33:12 I am

33:14 I think that everyone needs some type of help.

33:18 And I think that in everyone needs in this help. You don't get anywhere in life without some type of assistance from people. I was blessed to have me and my supervisor Wendy Iverson. We talkin then she wrote a pretty good piece.

33:39 And basically she said that people succeed for several reasons.

33:47 So the puppies are reasonable that she mentioned was one.

33:51 You have social capital?

33:55 And to you have monetary capital.

34:00 For individuals that are born into this world with money. It's a given that if they want to go to Harvard if there if they have money and some sort of prestiging a family if they want to go to Harvard then it's but check just write it off and go, you know, you want to create the next year at your business and maybe live life stagnant then find do that and write the check and go. Well this social capital piece of having the social networking abilities, and that's what I've been blessed to have. You know that I've been blessed to network.

34:39 And have individuals that I didn't necessarily know or that I would have that someone of my status coming up would have never known, you know a little boy that grew up in the hood and Danville being able to sit around the table with the CEOs of banks. Now, you know, where do they do that? If I mean now that little boy that grew up in a suburb, you know, I can see him sitting at the table, but I think that my success is is is is is inevitably going to be

35:19 Want to stings where whoever I encountered they'll have to see my calendar have to see my abilities and it'll is a social networking piece for me. See your success necessarily tied to monetary value. Like if you don't make a lot of money, are you going to be really mad at everybody wants to make money. Co the banks and who are just Community leaders success is what we make of it. I think it is what we make of our commune ourselves. If I die and I die a broke man, but I was able to get my children to the next level then and I was able to get my children become respectable adults and and and their children and become civically involved in their Community then

36:17 I've got successfully when you look at Monetary. Games. I don't think that money has to impact much. No, but and it fits perfectly in the black community, we're at a level now where

36:39 We're we're just getting out of infancy.

36:44 You know, it hasn't been but a hundred.

36:48 I know what a hundred fifty years since slavery ended. So it's kind of like you got to you got to crawl before you walk and those crawling days are halfway over. You know, we still have to gain wealth.

37:07 Yeah Financial wealth, but does that mean that that that's what makes it says not doesn't but it does mean that you're being able to

37:19 You you the ploy of needing government assistance it is it goes away when you're able to financially sustain yourself in your community.

37:30 So what does a successful Danville Community look like on Saturday in 10 years in law school or graduated and making mad money Danville wood Danville. Looks like a strong a state of population of 50,000 years of population game is a little slower than that. So let's say 45 to 50,000 to 44. But let's just say that the population look somewhere between 45 to 50000 / 55,000 will be great. Let's say that the downtown River District area of Danville is starving. You have some new apartment buildings up. You have a favorite expanding its campus and maybe getting into research. You have the Danville Regional Foundation spearheading.

38:30 I like it's been doing you have a city government that is paying attention to what Citizens need. You have a a main street when you walk you have multiple eateries, you have multiple storefronts. You have businesses downtown strong downtown looks like a community with the unemployment rate of maybe two to 3%

38:59 I got to be realistic got to be realistic the crime. We would have a homicide rate of 0 and 81 of other people until you go to church with I mean with that changed. I think I think that that a successful Danville means that that the the people that are going to church with the people that associate with within the the community exactly in the black community. They have some of the some similar games as what's occurring in the River District.

39:33 Would you help that most of the people I know young people there in Danville right now would come back to this community. You want people to follow your footsteps or do you think that there's I mean, I mean, I think that we all have four sets of we've got to travel. I think that God places Us in the areas to goddess in different directions. I was I was 30 minutes from being in Norfolk, you know, I was 2 weeks from being in New York, you know when I had the opportunity to come back to Danville, so you think that

40:12 Yo, you follow your own path in life. So to say I would love to see every young person come back to Danville, you know do a return a return to Dan Vegas. You know what that's like. Maybe I can painful and I'm not going to go with you.

40:34 People coming back would be great.

40:39 Final thoughts for my