Dedication To Community (D2C), a national non-profit that educates and empowers communities on diversity, belonging, and equity, today announced a partnership with PGA Tour veteran golfer Kirk Triplett for the 2021 season. Triplett will carry D2C’s logo on his golf bag and will participate in awareness and education programs throughout the year. It is D2C’s first formal partnership in golf.
“We welcome Kirk to our growing D2C family,” said M. Quentin Williams, Dedication To Community founder and CEO. “His visibility on the PGA TOUR, his passion on the topic of education and awareness tied to diversity and his compelling backstory will be essential in helping grow our mission of education, equity and beautiful listening by all.”
“I am tremendously excited to be working with Q. Williams and the team at D2C on this topic.” said Triplett. “I look forward to participating in more training and improving my understanding of all aspects of how law enforcement and communities interact. I intend to use my platform as a professional golfer to lead others in the golf world into this discussion, many of whom might not otherwise understand its importance. I want to promote and participate in the mission of change that D2C is bringing to communities across the country.”
Kirk and his wife Cathi had twin boys, Conor and Sam, in 1996 and then adopted their daughter Alexis (now 20) and son Kobe (now 18). Alexis’ birth parents are Latino; Kobe’s birth mother is Japanese, and his birth father is African American. As the parents of a racially diverse family, the Tripletts understand that social justice issues, especially the intersection of law enforcement and the communities they serve, affect all of us, not just those in the news. The publicity around the incidents in 2020 caused Kirk and Cathi to realize that an opportunity to educate and potentially unite people of diverse backgrounds was upon them. They realized that the discussions they were having at their own dinner table needed to be had by their peers in the golf community as well.
To facilitate these discussions Triplett placed a Black Lives Matter sticker on his PING golf bag at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship in August. It generated a great deal of media interest. One of his quotes, “I actually googled, ‘what can a white guy do?’ caught the interest of a Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Football Hall of Fame member, and D2C board member, Donnie Shell. Shell reached out with an answer…join the player platform at D2C…and a conversation started between the Tripletts and D2C. The Tripletts eventually participated in a relationship training session and from there this partnership was born.
Kirk earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Nevada Reno in 1985 and then turned professional. He joined the PGA Tour in 1990 and the PGA Tour Champions in 2012. He was a member of the Presidents Cup team in 2000 and is one of a small group of players that have won titles on all three sanctioned tours (Korn Ferry, PGA Tour, and PGA Tour Champions). The Tripletts have been residents of Arizona for more than 25 years. For more details please visit kirktriplett.com.
To date, D2C has worked with law enforcement agencies in several states across the U.S., including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, the Carolinas, and at the FBI National Academy in Virginia, where Williams has been an instructor. In September, D2C expanded its reach to involve professional, collegiate, and K-12 athletes, adding former NFL executive Lamonte Winston (former Director of Player Engagement and Development, Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Donnie Shell (Pittsburgh Steelers). Williams also announced in September a historic partnership with the Miami HEAT and the City of Miami Police Department and additional partnerships tied to athletes and teams are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.