From A Difficult Background, A Business Innovator is Born

Immediately west of downtown, it was once known as “Louisville’s Harlem” for its strong African American business presence. The area took a major decline after World War II and intensified during misguided urban renewal efforts in the 1960s that demolished the commercial area.

Today, while about 23.5 percent of Louisville’s population of 625,000 is Black, more than 75 percent of them live in West Louisville, which includes Russell and eight other neighborhoods where some 63,000 people live. The area is plagued by persistent poverty and hampered by the social determinants of health. West Louisville residents live on average 12 years less than those living in more affluent neighborhoods in East Louisville.

The median annual income is $17,000, well below the current poverty level of $25,750 for a family of four. More than 30 percent of those homes have no access to broadband internet service, and nothing beyond smart phones to develop technological literacy.

“But these aren’t broken people,” Christopher says. “They are under-resourced. And I know what it feels like to not-have. I know what they are going through.”

Growing up, Christopher’s father had stomach cancer and his mother had Parkinson’s, though it went undiagnosed for years. “We didn’t have good health care. I was an adult when they finally figured out it,” he recalls.

To create a generational approach, Christopher was supported with a grant from the National Center for Families Learning, and inspired by NCFL Founder Sharon Darling’s conviction that the approach to generational poverty must be to support the full family.

He added workshops for parents to play music with their kids, and also twelve weeks of classes to teach parents employable technical skills. Since 2015, he has trained about 375 students for tech jobs, graduating 85 percent of them. Of those who completed the program, 65 percent went on to get additional training and jobs in the tech industry, and another 10 percent got promoted within their current jobs.

“I was out and advocating to big tech companies, working with them to create a pipeline for them to hire our people,” Christopher says, mentioning specific support from Humana, Brown-Forman, and YUM Brands.

Christopher’s own son, Dave Christopher Jr., works by his side as an AMPED instructor, an echo of the days when he worked next to his own father on construction jobs.

“My father is a big part of who I am now,” Christopher says, growing emotional. “He told me it is okay to mess up, which taught me I shouldn’t be afraid to do anything I wanted to. He also said, when I was 12 years old, ‘If nobody will hire you, hire yourself.’ Since 12, I never felt I was at the mercy of someone else to get things done.”