Kevin Dow

Chief Operating Officer, Commerce Department,
City of Philadelphia

Kevin Dow was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Philadelphia Commerce Department in 2010.  Mr. Dow has strategic oversight of the City’s newly-created Office of Economic Opportunity and is responsible for the expansion and support of minority, women, and disabled-owned businesses. In addition, he provides strategic leadership to the Office of Neighborhood Services and the Office of Business Services which include initiatives to support neighborhood commercial corridors, Business Improvement Districts, and many critical public investment programs.  Prior to his appointment, Mr. Dow served as Deputy Director of Commerce for Neighborhood and Business Services from 2008.

Mr. Dow is the former Vice President of Community Affairs at Wachovia Bank, where he was responsible for directing the corporate philanthropic and employee engagement strategies for the Northern Region. Mr. Dow was involved with the strategic direction of Wachovia’s community involvement and employee volunteerism initiatives.   Beyond these responsibilities, he also served on two divisional Diversity Councils, facilitating company-wide training sessions and completing an extensive training program becoming a certified Diversity Practitioner.

In 2003, both the Philadelphia Tribune and the Philadelphia Business Journal recognized Mr. Dow with their respective annual awards for persons under 40 to watch and in 2005, the Berean Institute recognized him as a Living American History Maker. In 2006 Leadership Philadelphia named him as one of the region’s top “Connectors”.