For Southern Tier police Sergeant Sam Davis and his wife, Amira, identifying that all individuals are subjected to hardship and experience hardship in unique, personal ways is an important step forward in bolstering more intricate conversation on what it means to be inclusive members of their community.

That's why the Davis family started D5 Consulting Group, which educates companies and school districts on everything from safety to diversity and inclusion. With his 17 years in law enforcement, Davis has traveled to just about every community he serves, whether it’s speaking to children in schools, or teaching criminal justice students at SUNY Broome.

His mission, alongside D5 Consulting, is to share his own experiences and hardships in an effort to expand the outreach available in a community he's served for nearly two decades.

“It’s about every person in this room putting forth the effort and trying to understand, and if you don’t understand, we need to try to educate ourselves. That’s the bottom line,” said Davis.

The Davises run the family business out of their basement, putting together presentations on a variety of topics. But as of late, they’ve seen an increase of companies and schools wanting to spend more time educating their employees on diversity.

“It’s amazing that it seems like now we’re able to or trying to have this conversation. It should have been done a long time ago. Historically, I think we all know that we’ve always had issues, so I think it’s a combination of what we do and what we have to offer, and also other people,” said Davis.

When speaking to schools, Davis knows all kids are dealing with something different. As the youngest of 12, and losing both parents before he turned 13, he’s no stranger to dealing with challenges, even if it meant sleeping in his car.

“For me, it’s always been about survival, being able to meet people, being able to not necessarily blend in and do what you have to do to survive, and a big part of that for me is getting along with people. Sometimes you need to learn to be a bit more open-minded and accepting,” said Davis.

Amira and Sam have dealt with challenges growing up, and have learned from prior generations. It’s helped them educate and even inspire others to think differently.

“My experience, I’m sure, is different than the way my sister perceived it, which is different than the way that my brother perceived it and I think we need to take those things into consideration when we’re doing trainings because everybody learns a different way and we’re all different, so if we’re able to tap into something that resonates with somebody, that’s a great thing,” said Amira.

As a minority-owned business, the Davises know it won’t always be easy, but they hope to continue touching lives, one person at a time. The Davises also host trainings on drug and alcohol dangers and active shooting safety.