Dick DeVos worked in several well-established companies in executive positions before his way up as the President of Windquest Group. Before joining Windquest Group, Dick worked at NBA’s Orlando Magic and Amway in different managerial positions. Under his leadership, Amway tripled its international sales to exceed its domestic sales after recording a whopping $4.5 billion profitability. After Dick DeVos’ family acquired Orlando Magic in 1991, Dick served as its President and CEO for three years. He is married to Betsy Prince and has five grandchildren and seven children. Dick DeVos is a qualified helicopter and jet aircraft pilot and a National Champion sailor.
Educational Reforms
Betsy DeVos is an active supporter of the educational reform movements. She engages in non-profit activities to pursue educational reforms. Betsy co-founded Amway together with her husband, Dick DeVos in 1989. In an interview with Philanthropy Round Table, Betsy discussed what compelled her to join the educational reform movement. Betsy said that when her kids started school, she could support many needy students. As such, her passion for educational reforms started to build up. She added that her tenure serving on the American Education Reform Council and Children First America boards helped her to push for reforms in the education sector. Betsy’s husband, Dick DeVos, started the All Children Matters to create awareness to the public about educational choice. Many learning institutions supported and embraced the implementation of DeVos’ initiative. During the interview, Betsy said that her significant in Florida’s educational reform was significant. She said that she was happy with educational reforms in Indiana and Louisiana.
Dick’s Contribution to Society
As a supporter of education, Dick founded the Education Freedom Fund, which provides over 4,000 scholarships to the needy children. He also served on the State Board of Education of West Michigan Aviation Academy, in Michigan. West Michigan Aviation Academy focuses on aviation in providing a rigorous educational program to its students. Besides, Dick served as the co-chairperson of many regional health care improvements and downtown revitalization programs such as $30M Downtown Market, a $90M medical school, a $130M heart hospital, a $212M convention center, and a $75M downtown area. In 1997, Dick DeVos published “Rediscovering American Values,” a New York best-seller, which is now available in 7 languages. In the year 2006, he was nominated as the Republican’s candidate for the post of Governor.