Our Story

Community Success Initiative, (CSI) was created out of a desire to fill a need to see personal growth and development, and leadership principles become a recognized strategy for achieving success in the lives of everyday people.

CSI was officially incorporated in May 2004, and was the inspiration of Dennis W. Gaddy, founder and Executive Director. Due to some very unwise financial choices made in the late 90’s, Dennis found himself serving a five year, eight month prison sentence. Prior to prison, Dennis had spent 20 years in the direct selling industry, where he helped grassroots folk build home base businesses.

While incarcerated, rather than becoming overcome with either the successes or failures of the past, Dennis had time to study both, and out of this prison experience, he wrote the preliminary outline of what would later become the “15 Principles of Personal Growth and Development to Take You from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be”, a core set of principles that serves as the hub of CSI’s work. Starting with an inmate who wanted help in getting his GED and later incorporating the help Chaplain James Hales, Dennis was able to test these principles through a leadership class that he was allowed to facilitate while still incarcerated, a class that about 100 inmates took over a two year period.

During the summer of 2001 while on a prison community volunteer pass. Dennis met John Parker, Executive Director of Good Work, a Durham NC nonprofit organization that helps low wealth-low income folk start or strengthen a small business or nonprofit organization. After several meetings with Dennis at the prison, John invited Dennis to come to work at Good Work as a leadership coach to the entrepreneurs. As a result of this invitation, Dennis was able to complete his work release assignment.

It was during the Good Work experience that Dennis began to realize how little attention was being given to personal development and leadership skills training as a vital part of success. Although he had gone to school for 19 years,(1979 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and a 1982 graduate of the Campbell University School of Law), Dennis had never had a class on setting goals. This stimulated his thinking about the formation of an organization where people from ordinary backgrounds could learn success principles. As a result, Community Success Initiative was formally incorporated in May, 2004.

CSI has expanded its’ work into the following 5 program areas: 1) personal development and leadership skills training; 2) Entrepreneurial training; 3) Youth development and enrichment; 4) Serving people in transition, people in prison, and ex-offenders; 5) Building just and caring communities. Since its beginning, CSI has reached well over 500 people.

At the end of the day, CSI’s work is really about helping other people discover their untapped potential, and inspiring them to take action in a positive way.