CHC directors appointed Owens to the board at their April 26 meeting.
Launched in 1972, Community Health Centers is a private, non-profit organization that provides compassionate healthcare services to more than 66,000 under-served children and adults each year in the Apopka, Bithlo, Forest City, Groveland, Lake Ellenor, Leesburg, Meadow Woods, Pine Hills, Tavares and Winter Garden — communities that are insured, uninsured, and under-insured.
In 2016, Owens joined Beacon College, a Leesburg, Fla. nonprofit liberal arts school and America’s first college/university accredited to award bachelor’s degrees primarily to students with learning disabilities, ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning differences.
Prior to that, he worked for 25 years as an editorial writer and columnist at The Orlando Sentinel, where his once-weekly column garnered first-place honors for news commentary in the 2010 National Association of Black Journalists’ Salute to Excellence Awards and for commentary and criticism in the 2012 Sunshine State Awards.
From 2014-2016, Owens contributed as a pundit at the Orlando NPR affiliate, WMFE 90.7 FM, and appeared in the weekly commentary segment, “Darryl Owens Perspectives.”
He is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1989, Beacon College is the first higher education institution accredited to award bachelor’s degrees primarily to students who learn differently. Ranked among the Top 10 Florida colleges or universities in 2016 by Bestcolleges.com, Beacon College is nationally recognized as a superior institution for accommodating and preparing students who learn differently to prosper in a global economy.