President, Gathers Strategies, Inc.
Creator & Host, CivitasLA
Founded in 2008, Gathers Strategies provides strategic business development, government and community relations advisory services. Gathers Strategies has supported the business and economic development goals and objectives and guided the government and community relations strategies of a wide variety of clients, including businesses, non-profits, and foreign governments.
Prior to founding Gathers Strategies, Dwayne served at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), and has worked for the U.S. Dept of Housing & Urban Development; the U.S. State Department; and served as the first-ever Director of the State of California’s Office of Trade and Investment, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Active in economic development across the LA region over the past two decades, Dwayne has served the City of Los Angeles in several ways, including as a Commissioner on the Board of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), served on the City’s Business Tax Advisory Committee; the Workforce Investment Board; the Small Business Advisory Committee; and on the Mayor’s Global Export Council. Dwayne is a graduate of the Leadership Southern California Class of 2007.
Civically engaged, Dwayne is Immediate Past Chair of the Board of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce; Past President of the Board of Trustees of Hollywood United Methodist Church; and served on the Executive Committee of the LAEDC. Dwayne is also creator and host of a bi-weekly podcast, CivitasLA, the features diverse and emerging civic entrepreneurs across the greater LA region. A New Yorker, Dwayne is a graduate of Dartmouth College with a degree in Economics.