Ideagen Radio
Ideagen Radio
2025 Global Leadership Summit: Kevin Dunbar on CFY Lifelong Opportunities
A single coach who guaranteed every kid real playing time changed Kevin Dunbar’s life—and now that ethos powers CFY’s county-wide movement to remove barriers for 15,000 young people. We dig into a simple promise with outsized results: if a child wants to play, learn water safety, or pursue college, money won’t stand in the way. With an endowment that covers operating costs, every donated dollar goes straight to a kid’s fees, gear, or scholarship—turning access today into leadership tomorrow.
We walk through the mechanics behind the mission: a pay-what-you-can model that preserves dignity, partnerships with schools and community policing that direct support where it’s needed most, and scholarships that send first-generation students to college with ongoing mentorship. Kevin shares how CFY scaled from three to fifteen football and cheer programs across Pinellas County by listening to local leaders, keeping metrics tight, and celebrating wins publicly so donors, families, and teams see the impact. The result is a flywheel of trust: fund, deliver, measure, and share.
Technology keeps the engine humming. A robust HubSpot-powered site lets programs request grants, students apply for scholarships, and supporters plug in instantly. Social media moments—like “big check” presentations alongside championship coaches—aren’t PR fluff; they’re signals that access is real and repeatable. We also unpack how other communities can adapt this model: define your promise, reduce friction at registration, align with credible partners, and track outcomes that actually change lives. Want to be part of an approach that turns a $250 gap into a lifetime of possibility? Visit cfypenellis.org and follow CFY Penellas on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If this conversation moves you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more people discover the power of access.
Welcome to Idea Gen TV. Today I am honored and privileged to have with us Mr. Kevin Dunbar, CFY Panellist Executive Director. Kevin, welcome.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks, George. Appreciate you having me here.
SPEAKER_00:You know, Kevin, uh, you're doing so much to change the world. You're leading the way as executive director at CFY. And I'd like to begin for our global leadership summit to ask you if you can tell our global audience, the millions of people that watch this interview, tell us a little bit about the incredible mission of CFY and what inspired you to dedicate your career to this cause. And what impact have you seen firsthand in the community you're serving?
SPEAKER_01:Well, thanks, George. I think I think it's a great question and it really sets up what um uh what we do here at CFY. Uh we are basically looking to break down every barrier to make sure that every child has an access to athletics, water safety, and um we offer a lot of education opportunities. But our bread and butter is really based around um athletics. And as I say, we make sure that every child uh has a complete opportunity to play whatever sport they choose to play in. Our organization, our board of trustees, uh all feel that the value that a child learns being around good positive uh mentors, role models, uh learning how to win and lose uh correctly, and being part of a team are all values that really help to establish the foundation uh for young people as they assimilate into adulthood. And so we are very pleased and blessed to be behind that. Uh, how do we do it? It's pretty simple. We get the business philanthropic community behind this mission. Um, we boast an endowment that's large enough that it offsets our operating costs. So when people provide their funds to us, they are going immediately directly into support a child. Um, we see it firsthand by going out and to uh we are constantly interacting with the programs. We don't we don't uh operate any programs, we just make sure all the programs happen. As an example, here in Pinellas County, there's currently 17 different football and cheer programs in the county. We are providing support for 15 of them. And the other two we have begun conversations with. Four years ago, we were supporting three football and cheer programs. So we are really going out and we're making a difference and we're finding uh finding um the youth so we can serve. Uh, on the education front, we are actually going out and working directly with the uh with all the high schools, both public and private in the community, because like the youth athletic programs, they know their children and they know the impact. And so we're working with them to identify the kids that if we provide them with a scholarship, that this is going to be impactful and it's gonna be life-changing for them by making this opportunity um available to them. So last year we gave away 39 uh post-secondary scholarships. 18 of them were the first ones in their family to go to college. To me, that's pretty significant because we are setting these youth up for success. Uh, when we talk to them, which we stay in contact with them, what we're finding out is many of them they had no idea what their next opportunity was going to be. By having this, we have set them up and established them for being being a success. And we think that that's just an important piece of what we do, breaking down the barriers to make sure that every child has the opportunity to be successful.
SPEAKER_00:You know, Kevin, that's what it's just so incredible to hear, first of all, about your leadership, because it all starts with leadership. It starts with connecting the dots, and that's what you've done in your entire career. I've watched, I've seen, and I've stand in awe, really, of all that you're doing today at CFY. And so, youth sports, such a powerful tool, such an incredibly powerful tool for teaching teamwork, like you said, leadership and resilience. Kevin, how do you see these lessons translating beyond the field, especially in shaping community and business leaders of the future?
SPEAKER_01:So, the kind of the real interesting piece is when I look at many of the people that get involved with us, or in particular our board of trustees, uh, which there are 21 of those, um they have been impacted by a coach, by a mentor, by teammates, where they have played in their youth, and it has helped to establish who they are today. And with everything we do, we have a common phrase that we always use. And that is, as we talk to today's youth, when you have the opportunity, somewhere down the road, it may be 15, 20 years down the road, pay it forward. And that is what the people that are involved with us are looking to do. They are looking to pay it forward. We provide a mechanism so that people who do want to impact a child have the opportunity to work through us, our processes and systems to make sure that our dollars are supporting the right child, the right way, and used correctly so that we are providing that exact opportunity that many of our people uh had. Um, I always think back, I was 13 years old, I was uh my little league baseball team. I was probably uh there were 13 of us on the team. I probably at that point I was probably the ninth best player on the team. And back then you used to stack up your left fielders and your right fielders because you had to play two innings, and that's what coaches would do to win. Well, I played for Mr. Tillotson and he didn't believe that. Every child on his team was going to play at least three innings every game, and every other game he was gonna play four innings, and once during the course of the year, you were gonna at least play a whole game. Um, we were a 500 team, but he instilled in me the value of being part of a team, having an adult that believes in you, and giving you the opportunity to go out and be successful, and knowing that if you learn the fundamentals of the of the sport, which ultimately will be you also learn the fundamentals of life, you are going to be positioned and set up for success. And success will be what you choose to want to make it, but you will have the opportunity to do that. And so for us, for us here, that is our um that is how we're all stroking. That is how we're all moving forward within the three pillars of support that we provide to make sure that each child, and there's about 15,000 of them that we're impacting, have that opportunity to go out and do that and be successful.
SPEAKER_00:You know, speechless. I mean, it's truly what a mission. And you know, what I see here is that passion and commitment that you have, and and that's again, I've seen it uh in your career and throughout your career, knowing you now for over for a long time, I'll just say we've known each other for a long time. We won't date ourselves a few years, a few years, a few years. And how Kevin, do you approach leading an organization that must both inspire its donors and deliver measurable, concrete results for families?
SPEAKER_01:I think how you do it is is is you you live the message. Um, to me, what we do here, um, this is if I sound excited, it's because I enjoy it, I enjoy doing this. You know, I've had that career that's been the grind where I've had almost 600 souls that I was responsible for managing, uh, and you know, 40, 50 million dollar a year budget. But the passion that you learn, being involved in particular with youth athletics, or making a difference in the life of a child, or having a child come back to you and thank you for that difference that you've made, um, they can't pay you for that. And they shouldn't pay you for that. That is just what you do and what you want to make um want to make happen. And to me, it starts with energizing. In our case, we call it the CFY network of the people who come out and support us, and they get it and they get the mission and they want to be involved. If anything, we have a we're we're we're starting to run into too many people who want to be involved now because they really want to go out and want it, want to do things either to partner with us, um, to attend events that we do, uh, but we're very strategic and we were strategic how we rolled out our growth to make sure that we were successful. Um, when we go into the different communities in Pinellas County, and I'll use 2024, we went into St. Petersburg. Um, we're working directly with um community policing in St. Petersburg, Chief Holloway. Um, we're not trying to figure out where their needs are, they know what their needs are, they know how we can impact their community by what we do. And so they are talking to us about where their needs are, introducing us to the correct people. And we are going out and making a phenomenal uh presence. Um, we are taking our people around. Uh I'll let you in on a little something this uh this Monday, just to kind of show you some of the stuff that we do. We're doing a big check presentation at one of the programs. It's a way for me to get the notice, you know, kind of notice out of here's the giving that we're doing, but also reminding the programs about the impact that we're making and then reminding my board. And to me, that's a constant education process. Well, we're we're fortunate there's um a lot of people who believe in what we're doing. Um, I'm gonna have um uh the the head coach of the 2003 Super Bowl champion, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, John Gruden, is gonna be hanging out with me, providing providing that um that that check opportunity to these programs. And it inspires Coach every time he comes out and does one of these with me. And so that is all part of kind of the the how do you keep everybody energized and everybody going, but it's the passion about making a difference in the life of a child.
SPEAKER_00:And that there's uh I think you hit on you know the secret to one of the secrets to happiness is giving and supporting and helping. Um, and you're doing all of the above, and that's where um there's no dollars that could ever be uh in the place of that when someone comes back and says thank you, and the impact that you know CFY is making to these organizations that represent so many families, not just the athletes, but the entire family benefits from this. So it's kind of like you can't, the reward is so it's beyond you know what you can imagine. And I and I hear that, and I do hear your enthusiasm, Kevin. That's extraordinary. And so on that same thread, access, inclusion, that's all at the heart of CFY's mission. What can other communities do, organizations, etc., to learn how to take your model and infuse their model with these types of opportunities for young people across the nation and across the world.
SPEAKER_01:So I think I think what you have to do is you have to you have to define what it is that you're looking to do, the impact that you're you're willing, you're looking to make, and then assimilate that into what is our messaging going to be? Our messaging happens to be access for access for all, regardless of your financial ability to to uh to pay. And we don't care, as long as you come from Pinellas County, that's all that matters to us. And you're we know we use the Title I school model to kind of identify financial need. We make it pretty simple, and we also don't make it an in-your-face difficult process. Uh, we make it so that you have the ability to access. So um, I'll use a youth sport program example. You know, it's$300 to pay to play, and a family has two or three kids, and they come into registration and they say to the program, uh I want my child to play the play, but I can't afford$300. We ask the program to do one thing. Ask them what you can afford. And so if they come back and say, Well, I could afford$50, that's fine. You got skin in the game. And we think it's important that everybody has a little bit of skin in the game. We pay the other$250 of the registration fee directly to the program to make sure that that child has every opportunity to go out and be successful, to learn the proper way, to learn all the values of what youth athletics has to provide, whether it is a so it is a girls' softball program, it's a boys' baseball program, whatever the program is, whatever they choose to want to be involved with. And as I said earlier, you know, that for us, there's over 50 programs that we are providing support to in terms of making that happen.
SPEAKER_00:And there you go. And that's it. That's the model. That it's just incredible. That that example of you know, you supplement the 250 uh for the registration fee, which ultimately empowers that young student athlete to be able to participate. That's a game, like you want to use this analogy, it's a game changer. Certainly is. Literally and figuratively. And so, Kevin, we're in this, it's happening at warp speed, this incredible technological advancement. It's been likened to something well beyond the industrial revolution in terms of AI, etc. How do you see technology, partnerships, andor public awareness campaigns helping to assist, expand the reach and community sustainability of youth sports and specifically the programs like you support at CFY.
SPEAKER_01:So for us, it's a couple things. Uh, we are very aggressive uh with social media. Again, I mentioned earlier we're doing a big check. Part of why we're doing a big check is it's an optic to put out on social media. Uh, it's something to be able to tell our donors, our programs, things like that. Here's what we do, and it's how we make things happen. The other thing is a lot of what we do, uh, we're a small group, uh, but um we have a very uh robust uh web spot uh website. Um we are just in the process of finishing up, transitioning to the latest technology, HubSpot, and really building our website so that you can be engaged, get involved, everything's there, all of our information's there so that we can connect with you and you can connect with us. Um, and it's everything from our programs are able to do grants to our donors are able to find out the newest and latest information. Our scholarship candidates can apply. People can look at what it means and what does it take to do a uh uh to be involved with our water safety program and seeing all those kinds of pieces that it happens. But front and center is you know, we we don't have a storefront. Um, our office on occasion, maybe twice a month, someone will come through here, but everything is done via technology um uh you know for us, and we all have all the newest and latest uh in terms of those opportunities. And one of the cool things with us is uh, you know, things could be cash or they could be in kind. We have a great um IT provider that works with us um and doesn't charge us for that uh because they believe in the mission. Uh, we also have a marketing and website company that literally charges us about 20 cents on a dollar to provide the services because they believe in the mission to make sure that we are able to have the current robust technology that's gonna support such a great mission about what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00:And so, Kevin, it's hard to believe, but we are concluding this interview, and the inspiration is beyond what you can imagine. For those, again, millions of folks that will watch this interview on Idea Gen TV as part of the Idea Gen Global Leadership Summit. I want to thank you, but I also want to make sure before we conclude that you are able to highlight how folks can find out more about the work you're doing at CFY.
SPEAKER_01:So the bet so the best way is two ways, and it kind of concludes with that like the last thing I talk about. Our website, uh cfypenellis.org, or our handle on uh Facebook's. Um we're on Facebook, we are on uh LinkedIn, and we are also um we're also on Instagram, is uh CFY Penellus. Uh that is where everything we do operates through.
SPEAKER_00:Kevin Dunbar, executive director, leader. You are a leadership defined, my friend. Leader of CFY Pinellus. I've seen it. You're changing the world. It's an incredible model that you've incorporated and that you're building upon each and every day. And it's just incredible to see how many lives you're helping to accelerate into the future. Thank you so very much.
SPEAKER_01:Well, thank you, George. And for you know, for me, again, the passion about making a difference in the life of a child, and almost as equally as important as being able to call you one of my dearest friends.
SPEAKER_00:Well, right back at you, my friend. That's right. That's right. It's all about family. Thank you. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01:All right, appreciate it.