D’Angelos Svenkeson: From Rondo Linebacker to Real Estate CEO
Sports columnist Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald profiles D’Angelos Svenkeson, co-founder and CEO of NEOO Partners, a real estate development company he started with Denetrick Powers in 2018. A Rondo native, Svenkeson was inducted into the St. Paul Central Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 5 after graduating in 2006 as the school’s all-time leading tackler. He holds degrees from St. Cloud State and Jackson State University, credits football and family for his leadership and discipline, and thanked each of the roughly 50 guests at a celebration at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center.
D’Angelos Svenkeson knew at a young age that he wanted to become an entrepreneur.
“The seeds were planted early in my childhood,” he said while being interviewed at the Raum Mit restaurant in downtown St. Paul. “I always wanted to have my own business and contribute to the community I grew up in.”
That community, St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, is where he grew up and became an outstanding student-athlete at St. Paul Central.
Today, Svenkeson is CEO of NEOO Partners, a real estate development company he co-founded with Denetrick Powers in 2018.
On Monday, Oct. 5, he was inducted into the St. Paul Central Athletic Hall of Fame. He graduated in 2006 as the school’s all-time leading tackler, a four-year starter and a three-year all-conference player.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in planning and community development from St. Cloud State, where he also played football, and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Jackson State University, a historically Black university in Mississippi.
The leadership, teamwork and discipline he learned from playing football, from his uncles Carl, Anthony, Leon, Darryl and Antonio Brown, and from countless members of the community have carried over into his work as an entrepreneur.
He was named to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in 2005 and was recognized as an entrepreneur by the Metropolitan Economic Development Association. He was also named a Most Admired CEO for his leadership at NEOO Partners.
Throughout the interview, Svenkeson emphasized that his recent success is about more than him.
“My mother (Rhonda McGee), my wife (Kimberly Svenkeson), friends, the community, and my faith,” he said. “I would not be here without their support.”
That was evident on Sunday, Oct. 4, when he held a celebration at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in St. Paul. Working from a list he had made, he gave heartfelt thanks to every one of the roughly 50 people in attendance for helping him become the person he is today.
In return, each guest spoke of their relationship with Svenkeson and his perseverance, development and growth as a Black man.
Twenty years after graduating from high school, D’Angelos Svenkeson continues to make a difference.
He closed the interview by naming the main ingredient in his success.
“The main thing is that I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do since childhood,” he said. “I’m doing something that I love.”
Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader responses at mcdeezy05@gmail.com.