AARP DC Names Kendrick E. Curry New State President

Today, AARP District of Columbia State Director Louis Davis, Jr. announced the selection of Reverend Doctor Kendrick E. Curry as the new volunteer State President of the local non-profit organization, with more than 87,000 members in the District.

The State President is a vital part of AARP’s volunteer workforce, serving as a strategic partner of the State Director, acting as the chairman of the volunteer AARP DC Executive Council and providing a leadership voice on behalf of the volunteers in the District.

“I was honored to be selected as State President and look forward to working with a dynamic team of volunteers and staff to achieve the Association’s vision, mission, and strategic priorities in the District,” Curry said, “We are working across all eight wards to support the Age-Friendly DC initiative to make the District a great place for all ages to live, work and play.”

He notes, “I hope to empower and mobilize DC residents, over the age of 50, around issues that matter to them, like support for family caregivers, funding for home and community-based services and lower prescription drug prices.”

Curry has professional work experience in the corporate, government and non-profit sectors, in addition to serving for the last 15 years as the Senior Pastor of The Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church.

He is deeply involved in the community. As such, he is active on the Board of Directors for the DC Baptist Convention Foundation and the Marshall Heights Community Development Corporation. As a member of Faith Strategies, he serves with collective of clerics who bring faith-based solutions to social injustices in the DC metropolitan region. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of DC Jobs with Justice.

Curry advocates for Senior’s rights at the local and national levels, and has been a volunteer leader of the AARP DC Executive Council since 2014. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home.

Because of his passion for equity in education, Curry serves on the board of Education Forward DC, an organization aiming to transform the DC educational landscape. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia. Curry is an alternate member of the Board of Directors of DC Water, and he frequently consults in engineering and for academic, interfaith, and community organizing groups.

Based on Curry’s service on behalf of the residents of the District of Columbia, he has received numerous awards including the Wilhelmina Rolark Outstanding Citizen Award by the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO, and the Community Service/Partnership Award by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Curry earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, TX; an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI; and a M.Div. (Masters of Divinity) from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond, VA.

“I have known Rev. (Kendrick) Curry for over five years, and have no doubts that with him as State President our partnership will increase the visibility and amplify AARP DC as the credible advocate voice for older adults in the District,” said Louis Davis, Jr., AARP DC State Director.

To learn more about AARP DC, visit aarp.org/DC, and follow AARP DC on social media at Facebook.com/AARPDC and @AARPDC on Twitter.