090: George Deveney of Make-A-Wish

Boston Speaks Up

George Deveney is the Chief Advancement Officer at Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island, headquartered in Boston, MA. Make-A-Wish is a non-profit organization on a mission to create life-changing wish experiences for children with critical illnesses. In 2023, Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island celebrate 40 years of providing life changing experiences to kids and families who deserve it the most. Deveney has dedicated his life to helping others and he has no plans of taking his foot off the gas. Prior to joining Make-A-Wish, Deveney spent the majority of his career at City Year, an education-focused non-profit organization that unites young people from diverse backgrounds for a year of full-time service to keep students in school and on track to high school graduation. At City Year, Deveney led development of the organization and successfully launched regional teams in more than 10 cities including London, Denver and Orlando. As a Dorchester native, the return to the Greater Boston area to serve this community he once called home was inevitable. For Deveney, getting the opportunity to lead development for Make-A-Wish, one of the most well-recognized non-profit organizations in the nation, is his own dream come true. And as one could imagine, growing up in the area has left Deveney with strong family ties to Boston and surrounding neighborhoods. This has allowed Deveney to stay in tune with local culture, and more importantly makes this role that much more important to him. In his role, Deveney is responsible for driving the organization’s growth in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We unpack his specific efforts to do so in this episode as we also explore Deveney’s career journey, what he finds so special about Boston that brought him back, his passion for helping others through non-profit organizations, and much more.