LOUISVILLE, Ky. — DeVone Holt is the seventh CEO since the Muhammad Ali Center opened 19 years ago.
But he’s the first from Louisville, the first from west Louisville, where the champ himself grew up.
Holt said the Muhammad Ali quote that sticks with him the most is, “Impossible is nothing.”
“How he rejected the idea of him having to be who others wanted him to be. That to me was mind blowing as a young man.”
Before he was given the job just a few weeks ago, the Ali Center laid off five employees. He insisted it is not struggling financially.
“There was a sense of working to shore up the team to do the work that lies ahead of us, that was happening before I got here," Holt said. "So I will assemble a team to carry on a big vision and some heavy lifting in order to accomplish the things the board and I are setting to do.”
Holt will easily be the highest profile CEO in the Center’s history; he recognized the Center's mission has long had an international focus, but said it now needs to shift some of its focus to Louisville.
“I don’t think they were wrong for not starting local, but I think in order to have a strong and solid foundation, you’ve got to be able to connect locally, and I'll be able to do that as well for sure,” Holt said.
He's confident in that connection because of his recent work creating and opening the Goodwill Opportunity Center, which is part of the new Norton West Louisville Hospital Campus at 28th and Broadway.
Holt hoped Ali himself would appreciate having a west Louisville kid running his namesake center.
“It is indeed my dream job," he said. "As a Black kid from Louisville who had Muhammad Ali as his hero, I couldn’t think of a better opportunity to align a job with the greatest of all times.”
Plus, Holt himself has one asset that he believes the champ would respect: “I come with a big mouth.”
And with it, he's ready to remind people of the six core principals of Ali’s life: respect, confidence, conviction, dedication, giving and spirituality.