Tuwanna Dennis
Founder and President
With over twenty years of experience in real estate, Tuwanna Dennis is the Founder of Dior Realty Group (DRG) Brokerage, expanding in sales, rentals, and rehabilitation. DRG currently operates in Illinois and Indiana, managing over forty brokers, and has renovated hundreds of properties since 2016. Discovering her passion and love for real estate, she paves the way for young entrepreneurs by overcoming adversity and shattering glass ceilings. Tuwanna is the first African-American woman in Illinois to own a real estate title closing firm, DRG Title Agency. In 2022, She was inducted into the “Who’s Who in America Marquis” to acknowledge her professional integrity and humanitarian efforts.
Hailing from the Englewood community and a proud alumna of Chicago Public Schools, Tuwanna is dedicated to supporting post-secondary options for high school students and encouraging them to find ways to give back to their neighborhoods. As an accomplished leader and mentor in the education and non-profit sector, she is committed to allocating resources and services, eliminating economic disparities, creating opportunities to build generational wealth, and galvanizing the community. Through her resilience and self-determination, she is now the owner of the 19,000 sq. ft. commercial property, historically known as the Travis Dempsey Reality building, to be the new home of 840 Impact. Inspired to carry Travis Dempsey’s legacy to overcome poverty, Tuwanna is driven to unlock the potential of our communities to succeed economically and socially through her not-for-profit.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her son and hosting family events for her nieces and nephews. She continuously shows gratitude by coordinating and supporting philanthropic events throughout the Chicagoland area, as Tuwanna believes homeownership is the key to uplifting the permanent black underclass. She is passionate and driven to transform lives by creating rich and diverse pathways to success and building generational wealth in resilient communities through the evolution of 840 Impact. She is ready for her next assignment and looks forward to doing what it takes to impact the City of Chicago.
Shavonne Mayfield
Co-Founder and Vice President
A Chicago native born and raised in the South Shore community, Shavonne Mayfield is a proud public servant driven to lead innovative change in education and government institutions. Over the past two decades, she has shown leadership and guidance by efficiently and effectively overseeing city government and educational institutions’ financial and operational processes and procedures.
Inspired by her mother and godfather starting their careers as youth workers for the Chicago Youth Center, Shavonne witnessed the positive impact of creating opportunities for young people to thrive. Surrounded by these acts of service, Shavonne naturally pursued careers in the public sector.
She began her career at Chicago Public Schools, the 4th largest school district in the country, where she served as a Financial Specialist and has held the Finance and Administrative Director role for the Department of Labor, Chicago Job Corps, committing to serving students, staff, and families while overseeing the finances and operations of the program. Before Job Corps, Shavonne was the Assistant Director of Finance for the Chicago Fire Department, the 2nd largest fire department managing over $780M annually. She has also worked in leadership roles with the City Colleges of Chicago, the University of Chicago, and Depaul University. Shavonne’s versatility, with having strong management and operations experience, translates well in providing financial and strategic guidance to 840 Impact, engaging in the day-to-day operations, programming, and fundraising for the organization.
Shavonne holds a BS in Finance from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and an MBA with a Chief School Business Official Specialization. She’s a proud parent of a current Howard Bison and enjoys volunteering to support families at local philanthropic organizations such as the Chicago Youth Center, Chicago Public Schools, the Kindness Campaign, and more. Shavonne feels fulfilled knowing that her personal and career contributions have positively impacted education and the city.
