Delano Hunter
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has appointed a rising political star to lead her office of public service.
On Dec. 28, Bowser announced Delano Hunter as the new chief service officer of Serve DC, The Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism. The agency is charged with getting District government employees and residents involved in community service and Bowser said Hunter is the right person for the job.
“Delano is a proven leader with a real talent for improving agency operations and implementing effective strategies,” the mayor said. “Most importantly, he is passionate about mobilizing District volunteers to serve our community, so that more residents can find their pathways to the middle class.”
Hunter is the president of the Gateway Community Association and is a two-time candidate for the Ward 5 D.C. Council member position. In 2010, he came in second in the September Democratic primary to then-D.C. Council member Harry Thomas. And, when Thomas left the seat because of legal and criminal issues, Hunter ran in the May 2012 special election to replace him but came in second to D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie (D).
Many Ward 5 political observers expected Hunter to challenge McDuffie for the seat in 2014 but he chose not to do so.
Hunter will be leading such efforts as the District Resident Snow Team that is designed to help elderly and disabled residents deal with clearing walkways and sidewalks during inclement weather in the winter months. He will also facilitate the Hands on Hearts CPR Program that is set to train 5,000 people in hands-only CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators by September 2016 and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in a few weeks that encourages residents to engage in community service near and on the late civil rights leaders’ holiday, which is Jan. 18, 2016.
Hunter is a District native and attended its public schools. He graduated summa cum laude from Delaware State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and is currently an MBA candidate in the Johns Hopkins University School of Business.
Hunter is the former interim senior deputy director for programs at the District’s Department of Employment Services and has worked as the interim chief of staff at the agency.
He also served a stint in the Serve DC office as deputy director and worked as a special assistant in the Mayor’s Office of Veteran Affairs.
Robert King, a longtime community activist in Ward 5, said that Bowser made an excellent choice in Hunter to be the chief service officer.
“His compassion and his passion for community service make him uniquely qualified for the position,” King, who has served decades as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 5, said. “I think this is one of the mayor’s better appointments. He is already performing community service as the president of Gateway and he is a people’s servant.“