King Urban Life Center welcomes Da’Von L. McCune as Interim Executive Director, effective April 20, 2026. A lifelong son of Buffalo’s East Side, Da’Von brings a deeply rooted commitment to community, youth development, neighborhood transformation, and organizational stewardship.

For Da’Von, the work of King Urban Life Center is personal. The community KULC serves is not abstract, it is home. It is where he was raised, where he built lasting relationships, and where he has committed his life’s work to strengthening families, empowering young people, and helping communities grow from within.

Da’Von believes deeply in people centered change. His leadership is grounded in the belief that every person deserves to be seen, valued, supported, and understood as a whole person. He works to create an environment where staff are not viewed only through the limits of their job descriptions, but as full human beings with gifts, challenges, responsibilities, creativity, and purpose. In turn, he believes KULC’s staff must continue to see residents, children, and families not simply as recipients of services, but as full people with stories, wisdom, dignity, and the power to help shape the future of their own community.

Da’Von has served on the King Urban Life Center Board of Directors since 2018, most recently as Board President. His board leadership has given him strong institutional knowledge of KULC’s operations, financial structure, programs, partnerships, and long term strategic vision. As Interim Executive Director, he is focused on ensuring stability, maintaining momentum across programs, strengthening internal systems, and guiding the organization with transparency, accountability, and care.

He brings more than a decade of experience in youth programming, community based leadership, program development, operations, public speaking, and cross sector partnership building. His professional background includes leading youth and neighborhood initiatives, designing community centered programs, and building relationships across nonprofit, educational, civic, cultural, and grassroots spaces. He holds a Master’s degree in Urban Planning with a specialization in Community and Neighborhood Development, grounding his leadership in both lived experience and formal training.

At the heart of Da’Von’s leadership is a belief that neighborhood development must be people centered and resident driven. He believes lasting transformation cannot be built around buildings, programs, or systems alone. It must be built with people, through relationships, and in partnership with the residents, families, children, elders, organizations, and leaders who call the community home.

Da’Von is committed to creating tangible systemic change, both in the present and for the future. His work is rooted in love as the foundation, with patience, compassion, and creativity as core areas of expertise. He brings a leadership style that is relational, strategic, imaginative, and grounded in the belief that communities already carry the wisdom and strength needed to shape their next chapter.

During this season of transition, Da’Von’s priorities include supporting KULC’s staff and families, reinforcing strong governance, deepening community trust, strengthening internal systems, and positioning the organization for its next phase of growth and impact. He believes he has been chosen for a time like this to help lead King Urban Life Center into the next chapter of its story with clarity, care, courage, and purpose.

A key part of this vision includes supporting the East Side Transformation Project through ongoing collaboration with partners such as the University at Buffalo Center for Urban Studies, the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute, Back to Basics Ministries, the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, and LISC WNY. Together, these partnerships reflect a shared commitment to co creating neighborhoods with residents that are inclusive, healthy, thriving, joyful, and lasting.

Under Da’Von’s interim leadership, KULC’s programs and partnerships continue without interruption. The organization remains committed to its mission, its families, and its long standing role as a place of learning, connection, stability, and possibility. Over the next six months, Da’Von is committed to demonstrating, through steady leadership, measurable progress, strengthened systems, and deepened community trust, why he is the right person to permanently lead KULC into its next chapter.

Da’Von is grateful for the trust of the Board of Directors, staff, families, funders, and community partners as KULC continues moving forward with purpose, accountability, love, and resolve.