Dreama Gentry

A proud Appalachian with no desire to live anywhere else. First in the extended family to attend and graduate from college. A hope dealer who unabashedly brings the voice of rural children and families into every room.

Dreama Gentry is founder and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact (PRI), a national intermediary that mobilizes rural leaders, strengthens capacity of rural organizations, and activates policy makers and philanthropic partners to ensure the 14 million children and youth living in rural America are on a path to upward mobility. Partners for Rural Impact has eight offices across the country, 350+ employees with an annual budget of $60+ million.  

Dreama is the architect of the nation’s first rural Promise Neighborhood, and the designer of a rural-focused Full Service Community School model built upon the essential framework of community schools. PRI has implemented and sustained four rural Promise Neighborhoods in Appalachian Kentucky and is operating more than 130 Full Service Community Schools in rural areas of Kentucky, Texas, and Missouri.

A graduate of Berea College and the University of Kentucky College of Law, Dreama serves on the Economic Mobility Alliance Steering Committee and the National Comprehensive Center Advisory Board.  

Dreama has deep roots in rural Appalachian Kentucky. Her family arrived in Harlan County 200+ years ago. They left Harlan under interesting circumstances and settled in Crab Orchard, Kentucky 120+ years ago. Dreama and her husband, Hasan Davis, have lived in Paint Lick, KY for more than 20 years. They are the extremely proud parents of Malcolm, founder of Affrilachian Arts, and Christopher, who is completing a degree in cybersecurity leadership from South Dakota State University.