Dovév Weaver Sr., founder of Closer To Our Dreams, focuses on entrepreneurship, networking education, and youth mentorship across St. Petersburg. Photo courtesy of Weaver
Dovév Weaver has built his career at the intersection of entrepreneurship, mentorship, and access. A longtime advocate for professional development and youth empowerment in St. Petersburg through his Closer to Our Dreams project, Weaver has spent years helping students and early career professionals learn how to navigate spaces that often feel closed off to them.
His work spans business coaching, networking education, and community-based programming, and he discusses all these topics in his “Manifest Your Dreams” podcast. In one episode, he shares that his greatest goal and personal challenge to himself has been, “How many entrepreneurs did I inspire to get started? How many people can I impact [so they] can now pursue their goals and dreams?”
Rooted in his belief in expanding opportunities for all, his work is now taking shape at SailFuture Academy, where, as a part-time Pathways Educator, he designs programs introducing students to entrepreneurship, creative industries, and professional networks. Weaver believes that by exposing the youth to experiences they may not otherwise encounter and giving them the necessary “…tools in their toolbelt, they will be set up to succeed in this new world we are living in.”
Rather than teaching entrepreneurship as a concept, Weaver submerges students in environments where they are developing ideas, testing concepts, and presenting their thinking to peers. Curriculum includes team-based projects where students create business concepts, explore branding, and refine basic plans through group feedback.
Weaver – aka “Coach D” – is now working on expanding those efforts into a citywide “Kidpreneur Shark Tank,” a youth entrepreneurship competition that would bring together students from multiple schools and connect promising ideas to local support.
Weaver’s approach aligns with his broader belief that entrepreneurial thinking and professional literacy should not be delayed until college or early career stages. Instead, he is embedding these skills earlier, emphasizing communication, collaboration, and strategic thinking. He also teaches students how to move through professional spaces with intention, focusing on listening, contributing with purpose, and understanding context. These skills, he said, shape who builds relationships and who gains access to opportunity.
This work signals a change in how educators are thinking about career readiness. Rather than pushing a single pathway, Coach D encourages young people to define what fulfillment and stability mean for them. His approach reflects a growing recognition that the next generation will navigate careers with more fluidity, blending entrepreneurship, creative work, and traditional employment in ways that require adaptability and confidence.
Looking ahead, Weaver’s vision includes a long-term dream to build a school named after his grandfather, an entrepreneur whose legacy he only fully understood after starting his own business. For Weaver, the work at SailFuture is one step in a larger commitment to creating learning spaces that equip young people not only to dream, but to build lives shaped by intention, access, and opportunity.
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More Photos
Weaver Sr. recording Episode 6 of the Manifest Your Dreams podcast, a series focused on helping listeners gain clarity and take actionable steps toward moving forward. Photo courtesy of Weaver.
Dovév Weaver Sr. speaks to Culture Creative in St. Petersburg. Photo courtesy of Weaver.
Weaver with Gabrielle Agnew and Hall of Fame speaker Dr. Shirley Davis at the Black Affairs Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast in Tampa. Photo courtesy of Weaver
