DO GOOD WITH FLIGHT
“The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts… the content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think, what you do, is who you become. “
– Heraclitus, 500 BC
EGGS TO EAGLES
THE PURPOSE DRIVEN FLIGHT
Every human interaction results in one of three outcomes: it lifts you up, it pulls you down, or it leaves you right where you were, unchanged. Eggs to Eagles (or E2E as we sometimes go by) is a Florida-based nonprofit that intersects with and changes young lives. We are a fork in the road where kids who may have otherwise been left behind are lifted by our program on an upward vector toward purpose, high-achievement, and civic responsibility. Put simply, we do good with flight.
OUR MISSION
CHANGING LIVES ONE FLIGHT AT A TIME
Our “secret sauce” is instilling and developing the E2E Big Three:
CHARACTER
ACCOUNTABILITY
SELF-CONFIDENCE
THE PURPOSE DRIVEN FLIGHT
Eggs to Eagles works with local community leaders, teachers, and mentors to identify and connect with at-risk kids. Our organization primarily works with kids who come from difficult social or economic circumstances – kids without a lot of opportunity or hope. Kids who may have taken a wrong turn and are heading down a bad path in life. Kids who – through their history and circumstances – likely don’t believe things will turn out very well for them.
Eggs to Eagles captures their interest with an introductory flight in an airplane, utilizing the incredibly powerful experience of taking flight and soaring above the earth as an attention getter, with the specific purpose of opening their eyes to being a part of something bigger. Something better. To show them that if they commit to something worthwhile – not even the sky is the limit.
THE FORMULA
Our basic formula for success is simple, with the primary ingredient being the E2E Big Three; this formula has the important distinction of having worked for all our mentors – our model isn’t theory – it’s tried and proven:
E2E BIG THREE + HARD WORK + OPPORTUNITY = SOAR
Although aviation is a central component of the program, it is simply an enabler, an attention-gainer, and a way to get kids inspired by something that is fun and exciting. The real backbone of what we do is shaping our kids by working hard on the E2E Big Three. That is the foundation that we will build everything else upon. When mixed with hard work on the part of the individual and the opportunities we show them, success is all but guaranteed.
AN ITERATIVE APPROACH
TO PERSONAL GROWTH
The name of the organization says it all – you come to us as an Egg, and through hard work and mentorship, we will take you all the way to being an Eagle. What does an Eagle look like? A young adult imbued with the character, discipline, attitude, and basic life skills required to become a success. By the time they are Eagles, our kids have identified a desired career path that we help them embark on. When they leave our “nest,” they are fully capable young adults, ready to take the next step toward the career of their dreams. Along the way, they will progress and grow with our promotion structure. In Phase One of our program, our Eggs and Sparrows primarily develop their foundation in the E2E Big Three. Phase Two is the middle ground of our organization and features our Robins and Falcons. Here our kids expand on what they’ve learned in Phase One by working with the community and are now hard at work developing critical basic life skills. Phase Three is our Hawks and Eagles – this can be thought of as the finishing school of E2E. Here our kids polish their life skills while plotting and executing the path toward their selected career, all while practicing basic leadership for the first time, assisting with mentoring and teaching the kids in our first two phases.
Promotion in our program is based on progress and milestones achieved in demonstrated character and virtue; community service and civic responsibility; academic excellence and achievement; physical excellence and achievement; progression inflight training, operations, and maintenance; and finally critical life skills, such as opening and maintaining a bank account, applying for schools, how to prep and interview for a job, and public speaking.
ABOUT US
WHO IS EGGS TO EAGLES
Eggs to Eagles was started by retired Marine Corps fighter pilot Brian Dennis and retired Navy fighter pilot Vorrice Burks.
Brian grew up in South St. Petersburg, Florida. Here he witnessed first-hand how several friends and classmates took some bad paths in life after becoming disenfranchised and losing hope, sometimes with tragic consequences. After spending 27 years as a Marine deploying around the world, Brian decided that upon retiring he was going to use all he had learned about aviation and mentorship to combine the two for good, starting in the community he grew up in.
Vorrice grew up in some of the most dangerous housing projects of San Francisco and Oakland, California, experiencing first-hand the lack of opportunity and resulting difficulties that are all too common in the poorest sections of those communities. He was determined to break the cycle of poverty and tragedy that continues to perpetuate itself in those areas, rising through the ranks in the United States Navy. After 33 years of service, Vorrice was compelled to use his life experiences to help shape the future for those willing to work hard and help others.
This cycle of disenfranchisement and lack of opportunity continues today in hundreds of cities across America. A chance meeting in Atlanta led to these two warriors deciding to join forces to make a difference in the lives of those in need, starting in St. Petersburg. Together Brian and Vorrice have 60 years of military experience, including 16deployments, more than 200 combat missions, over 1,500 carrier landings, and have flown more than 8,200 flight hours, to include 6,400 hours in fighter aircraft.
about us
Meet the team
Brian “Heed” Dennis
President, CEO, Founder
Retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, F/A-18 Hornet pilot, former commanding officer of Training Squadron 35, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1) Tactics Course graduate.
Vorrice “Heavy” Burks
Vice President, Board Member, Co-Founder
Retired Navy Captain, first officer at FedEx, F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet pilot, former commander of Carrier Air Wing 8, Strike Fighter Squadron 41, and TOPGUN graduate.
Charles F. Bolden Jr.
Senior Executive Advisor
Retired Marine Corps general officer, former NASA Administrator, astronaut and space shuttle commander.
EGGS TO EAGLES
TOGETHER WE SOAR
Our job is only done when we take kids who were on a bad or unproductive path and place them on a path leading to purpose, fulfillment, excellence, and virtue as they are rounding the corner to young adulthood. As our organization was founded by high-achievers in the field of aviation, we hope to inspire kids to take paths that will lead them to aviation careers. The aviation industry currently employs 11.3 million people and is forecast to grow by more than 20% over the next 20 years. There are many aviation industry salaries that start or soon move north of six figures. Career paths our kids are placed on include pilot (commercial or military), aerospace engineering, airport operations and management, air traffic control, aerospace medicine, aviation law, and aircraft maintenance (including powerplant, airframe, and avionics repair).
eggs to eagles
Contact Us
BRIAN.DENNIS@EGGSTOEAGLES.ORG
