Meet Derrin Slack

Know More LLC

Derrin's Top 5 Focus Areas

Derrin will help you put DEIB skills and knowledge into action by focusing on human-centered strategies and programs that meet you where you are.
  • DEI Strategy, Systems & Roadmaps
  • Peer group or task force facilitation
  • Individual & Team Assessments
  • Training Facilitation & Instructional Design
  • Performance Management & Accountability Systems

Turning the World Outward.

While on a college mission trip to Botswana, Africa, Derrin, experienced the power of giving back to others and wondered how his life would have been different had he been exposed to service and human-centered leadership at a younger age. This led to inform his work in DEIB and leadership development for the past 15 years.

Derrin is an award-winning community leader with a strong background in nonprofit management and research, training, and leadership. He acts as the conduit between the needs of the community, and the individuals, partners, sponsors, and students that engage with Know More. Derrin has engaged and facilitated over 30,000 individuals to value intentional community engagement and appreciate diversity and equity as an integral part of their lives. He has trained all over Indianapolis and in such countries as Ireland, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and the UK; and in many cities in the United States.

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A Vision Realized.

Know More LLC was founded in 2023 by Derrin Slack, an experienced nonprofit leader and community builder. While volunteering abroad, Derrin recognized the power of service and lifelong learning. This inspired him to establish the nonprofit organization ProAct Indy in 2010, which for the past decade has engaged over 35,000 individuals through community projects and training workshops.

Through this work, Derrin saw an opportunity to make an even greater impact by launching Know More as a training consultancy. Know More specializes in human-centered experiences that foster environments for lifelong learning. The aim is to help people think creatively so they can solve complex problems.

With his strong background in research, training, and leadership, Derrin brings multifaceted expertise to Know More. As a conduit between community needs and those seeking self-improvement, he has led diverse teams locally and globally. Know More leverages Derrin's experience and ProAct Indy's decade of community building to benefit more individuals and organizations.

Slack works to realize a vision of our community where individuals and leaders adopt an Outward Mindset - whereas, people see others as people, not objects. In this way, he and his team help individuals, teams, and organizations move from the default self-focus of an inward mindset to the results-focus of an outward mindset. Through training, coaching, mentoring, and a suite of implementation tools, Slack and Know More enable youth, organizations and their people to achieve results that are only possible with an outward mindset. In this role, Slack supports educators, corporate employees, and nonprofit leaders to improve learning opportunities for learners of all ages. For the past decade, Slack has led initiatives to engage over 30,000 individuals in activities providing schools, businesses, and nonprofits human-centered professional development programs and facilitated learning communities.

Transforming pain into strength. 

Derrin overcame stuttering as a child and now uses it to empower others through service learning and teaching. He understands the feeling of not being seen due to low self-esteem and a perceived disability. By serving vulnerable communities around the world, he found his voice and power. He noticed that those being served looked like him and desired recognition. He founded ProAct Indy and Know More to prioritize people over action and empower overlooked individuals to make an impact in their community.

Download Derrin's Headshots & Bio

Is Derrin booked for your next event or workshop? Easily download his bio and headshot for your convenience. Email info@knowmoretraining.com if you have any issues.

Fun Facts About Derrin

Favorite Quote: Each of us is worth more than the worst thing we've ever done.

Cinnamon Bun Oreos...from Canada.

Derrin's favorite snack is Cinnamon Bun Oreos. You can't find them anywhere in the US anymore, so he orders them from Canada.

Jumped off of a building.

Derrin has been to Las Vegas to jump off of the STRAT Hotel & Tower - twice.

Mismatched socks.

On any given day, you might find Derrin wearing mismatched socks.

Chicken on bones? Yuck.

You will never see Derrin eating chicken off a bone. He is one picky eater.

Highly sought-out trainer, speaker & instructional designer.

Before founding Know More, Mr. Slack worked to train medical professionals as a Medical Informatics Trainer at Community Health Network (Indiana) where he was part of a training and instructional design team that led the healthcare network to be a leader in medical informatics in the state of Indiana. He helped train over 2,500 medical professionals over three years before leaving to pursue his passion of engaging youth in public service full-time.

Ever since, Slack has become a highly sought-after speaker, training facilitator and consultant to educate on such issues as diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and community engagement strategies for businesses, nonprofits, and schools.

Slack firmly believes that it is important to build relationships and teach leadership through service, because vulnerable people do not care how much you know, they want to know how much you care.

Slack is the proud father of, son, Tyson and, daughter, London.

In his more than a decade worth of experience in the community, Slack has developed, designed, and curated human-centered curriculum and youth programs on a diverse array of topics bringing the vision of Know More and its training partners to life with an intentional focus on helping people engage with vulnerable populations.

Slack has trained all over the world in such countries as Ireland, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, and the UK; and in over twenty cities across the US. Derrin also hosts the popular podcast, Stood in the Gap, which focuses on the journey of where leaders were before they achieved their goals. It’s stories often left untold, yet those stories made the difference between giving up and pressing on.

Awards & Recognitions

Mr. Slack is a results-driven servant leader who takes a hands-on role in whatever work in which he becomes involved. Below are some of the Awards and Recognitions Slack has received for his work:
  • 2023 Shawnna's Rule Award Recipient, ProAct Indy
  • 2023 Diversity in Leadership Cohort Member, Marian University
    2021 Serve Indiana Volunteer Program of the Year award winner
  • 2020 D. Susan Wisely IYI Youth Worker of the Year Award winner
  • 2020 One in a Million Award, Awarded by Multiplying Good
  • 2019 honoree of the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Top Forty Under 40 award
  • Recipient of the 2018 Community Impact Award from the Indiana Civil Rights Commission and the Governor of Indiana
  • Recipient of the 2018 Jefferson Award for Public Service
  • A 2017 finalist for Junior Achievement’s Indy’s Best and Brightest award
  • 2017 Exchange Leadership Fellow, Young professional fellowship of the Indianapolis Urban League
  • Recipient of the 2016 Minority Achievement Award for Human Achievement from the Center for Leadership Development 
  • 2016 Journey Fellow
  • 2015-2017 Service-Learning Interdisciplinary Cohort
  • Recipient of the 2015 Power of Peace Award from the Peace Learning Center
  • Recipient of the 2014 Heart of a Father award from the Fathers and Families Center. 
  • 2012 ROSE Award Nominee, Awarded by the city of Indianapolis

Community Involvement & Certifications

  • YMCA of Greater Indianapolis - Diversity, Inclusion, and Global (DIG) Committee (2024)
    Diversity in Leadership Program Cohort Member (2023)
  • Qualified Administrator, Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) (2022-Present), the premier cross-cultural assessment of intercultural competence that is used by thousands of individuals and organizations to build intercultural competence to achieve international and domestic diversity and inclusion goals and outcomes.
  • Symposium on the Sea Speaker/Facilitator, The Journey, Dominican Republic (2022)
  • Nicosia, Cyprus, International Symposium on Service-Learning, Speaker/Presenter (2022)
  • Authorized Provider of Everything DiSC and the Five Behaviors of Leadership (2022-Present)
  • Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification, Project Management Institute (2021-2024)
  • Podcast Host, Stood in the Gap Podcast (2020-Present)
  • Thought Leader Partner, TrueU (2021-Present)
  • Licensed Facilitator, Developing and Implementing an Outward Mindset/Outward Leadership/Outward Inclusion Arbinger Institute (2021-Present)
  • Columnist, Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper (2020-Present)
  • Board Member, We Bloom (2021-Present)
  • Board Member, Nexus Impact Center (2020-Present)Board Member, Westminster Neighborhood Services (2019-Present)
  • United Way of Central Indiana Leadership United Program (2021)Global Good Fund LEAP Program (2020)
  • Mali, West Africa Goalkeepers Program Co-Creator & Training Facilitator (2019)
  • New Orleans, LA Service Trip with ProAct Indy Youth (2018)Catch the Stars Foundation, Board Member (2018-19)
  • Galway, Ireland, International Symposium on Service-Learning, Speaker/Presenter (2017)Omaha, Nebraska, Engagement Scholarship Consortium Speaker/Presenter (2016)Israel/Palestine Missions Trip (2016)New York City, New York Service Trip (2015)Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Africa Missions Trip (2014)
  • New Orleans, LA Service Trip (2009, 2010)
  • Maun, Botswana, Africa Missions Trip (2008)

Learning Experiences from Derrin and Know More.

How learners respond to Derrin 

Derrin’s presence: Commanding yet gentle. Makes me comfortably uncomfortable. Uses silence in the closing debrief. This program is rich in understanding the higher social equity issues and importance of what they’re doing.
Gretchen Schott
CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER AT THREEFOLD
I was somewhat skeptical of these types of workshops, so I was shocked and surprised at the overall staff response. Derrin [and his team] has a knack for making people feel empowered to make a difference.
RICk MIller
OWNER AND CEO AT FINELINE PRINTING GROUP
This was by far the best [professional development] training we have ever had during my time here. [Derrin] approached what is usually a weighty topic in a light-hearted way that didn't make us feel shame or guilt.
Anonymous survey respondent
EDUCATOR, IPS SCHOOL #51
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