Phil
Darke

My leadership journey has not followed a straight line. I began my career as an attorney, but a calling to serve vulnerable children and families eventually led me into nonprofit leadership. For more than 17 years, I have led Providence World, an international nonprofit serving children and families in Honduras, building a team of 68 people. That experience has required far more than passion for a mission—it has meant forming teams, raising funds, navigating financial uncertainty, developing leaders, working across cultures, and learning to lead when the stakes are deeply personal.

Along the way, I discovered that what I love most is helping leaders and teams understand themselves, communicate better, and become healthier and more effective. That led me to found Darke Leadership Group, where I work with business leaders and teams on DISC-based development and executive coaching, write and speak on leadership, and host the How Soccer Explains Leadership podcast—drawing on years of coaching soccer to explore what the game teaches us about people, teams, and culture. Those threads come together in my upcoming book, The People Advantage.

My why is simple: to help others flourish and make good things better. I believe people are not something we manage on the way to accomplishing the mission—developing people is part of the mission. Healthy organizations are built by leaders who combine clarity and courage with humility, self-awareness, and genuine care for those they lead.

Convene brings together the things I care most deeply about: leadership, business, relationships, faith, and lasting impact. Most successful leaders know how to build a business. Fewer intentionally build a life that thrives at home as well as at work. And fewer still are asking how what they are building will matter for eternity.

That is why I became a Convene Chair. I want to walk alongside Christian CEOs and business owners who are not satisfied with succeeding in just one area of life, in a community where leaders challenge, encourage, sharpen, and spur one another on to thrive in business, family, and eternal impact.

I am a husband and father of five, and family is one of the great joys of my life. Soccer has also been a big part of our family for years and inspired my podcast, How Soccer Explains Leadership, where I explore what the world’s game can teach us about people, teams, culture, and leadership. I love learning, traveling, reading great books, watching great movies, developing leaders, and conversations that go deeper than small talk—especially around faith, leadership, family, and what it means to build a life that matters.