LIVE: Rhode Island’s Emerging Leaders Kyle Bennett
LIVE: Rhode Island’s Emerging Leaders Kyle Bennett
Kyle Bennett says he has devoted his personal and professional life to lending his time and talents to serving the Rhode Island community.
As the Director of Policy and Research at United Way of Rhode Island, Bennett manages a team of people with a focus on defining challenges for the community. Bennett says his goal is to create systems that serve the greater good while helping people with immediate needs.
Prior to working for United Way, Bennett held several community-based positions, including Director of Black Affairs for the City of Providence and Communications Specialist for the RI Air National Guard. Currently, he is a member of the board of Breakthrough Providence, and mentors students in the Year Up program.
How are you helping to make Rhode Island better?
I believe that in my role, I am able to bring together individuals and organizations that may not naturally speak to one another. This is helpful both at work and at home in that I am able to help connect people! Sometimes my job is to bring resources to the need, other times it is to connect people that have not met and whose work may benefit one another. I learned a long time ago from a friend that people who join others together are just as important those who lead and follow.
What is one thing you feel everyone can do to help move our state forward?
Our state is a small one and because of that, we have connectivity that is not unique but is truly special. While we have some of the most amazing minds here in RI we also have the ability to reach everyone from our US Senators and Representatives to the heads of the largest corporations in the state and everyone in between. If each person took the time to identify one challenge and worked toward a solution we can make a difference for all Rhode Islanders.
What inspires you in your day-to-day life and work?
My wife inspires me. She works for a private organization with lots of challenges as they serve their customers’ needs. She manages to work all day, go to school part-time, take care of the laundry, which is amazing all by itself, and still find the time and energy to be engaged with us as a family. She is truly an inspiration.
At work, we have an amazing team dedicated to making this a better place for RI’ers. Our folks are a great mixture of young, older, new and well-seasoned professionals who bring their best every day to ensure that the dollars we collect and invest in our community bring about the greatest possible result. I have had the good fortune of working with a few high functioning teams and this one has to be one of the greatest. They make me proud and inspire me to do more, be greater.