About Me

Dexter D. Evans

Not failure, but low aim is sin.

Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, University President, Civil Rights Activist, Spiritual Leader

Dexter D. Evans is the Director of Development for the National Museum of African American Music.

He is responsible for leading museum fundraising and philanthropic partnerships with regional and national corporations, public and private foundations, community and faith-based organizations, and individual and family contributors. Dexter was promoted to lead the development department in just under one year after joining NMAAM.

Prior to taking this role in 2022, Dexter was Executive Director of FRIENDS of Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas, TX, where he maintained the foundation’s $1MM operating budget and led overall management responsibility of personnel, operations, programs, fundraising, and philanthropic activities. Prior to that, Dexter was promoted over a seven-year tenure at the historically Black institution, Paul Quinn College, serving as an administrator in admissions, student affairs, alumni affairs, and the office of the president. Notably, during his time as the Special Assistant to the President and Associate Dean of Students and Alumni, Dexter raised $3MM for the university.

Currently, Dexter serves as the President of the Paul Quinn College National Alumni Association and is a board member for Nashville Emerging Leaders—the city’s most prestigious leadership development program of its kind. Dexter’s received numerous awards and honors including the Paul Quinn College Student of the Year, as well as the school’s Young Alumnus of the Year award. Dexter was also honored with the Penn Graduate School of Education’s Citation for Excellence in Leadership and Innovation.

Dexter is a current student in the inaugural class of the Professional Doctorate in Philanthropic Leadership at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Dexter is a proud HBCU graduate, earning his bachelor’s degree in legal studies from Paul Quinn College, and later became the first Paul Quinn alumnus to graduate from an Ivy League institution after obtaining a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and graduate certificate in Africana Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Dexter holds a graduate certificate in education finance from the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.

Dexter and his wife Dr. Alexandria Evans live in North Nashville, TN with their toddler son, David.