D eavra A. Daughtry, President and CEO of Excellent Care Management, one of the nation's largest personal in-home care agencies, started from humble beginnings. She was born in Houston, Texas in the Acres Home community, a low-income housing area of the city. Her love for assisting those in need grew out of helping her grandmother care for people in their community.

She began her career as an assistant in the social services department of Harris County, and quickly worked her way up to becoming a Social Worker. After seven years, and feeling that she wanted to do more, she decided to turn her passion for helping others into a business. She, initially, volunteered her services by providing care to the elderly and disabled, then, it became her mission to provide quality care to this segment of society. In 1997, she started Excel-E-Care and was licensed by the State of Texas to operate a Personal Home Assistance Services Agency.

Beginning with just one employee, herself, she worked tirelessly to fulfill her mission. By the end of the first year, there were three employees in the office and forty attendants working in the field. Today, Excel-E-Care employs over 500 hard working people. Excellent Care Management was birthed out of the success of Excel-E-Care and is currently building a Senior Community on 8 acres of land.

Ms. Daughtry has been continuously recognized for her accomplishments and contributions. She has received:

  • Certificate of Congressional Recognition from the Houston Housing and
  • Community Developing Department "National Community Development Week" presented by Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee.
  • Letter of Commendation for community involvement from State Representative Sylvester Turner, Awarded 2002.
  • Emerging 10 Award for setting business trends and innovative performance, presented by The Houston Minority Council.
  • YMCA Minority Achievers Award 2002 for improvement of the quality of life for all the people and willingness to serve Houston.
  • Nominated by Houston Business Journal 2003 Top 50 Woman-Owned Businesses.
  • 2004 Pinnacle Award Recipient Awarded by Greater Houston Citizen Chamber of Commerce.
  • 2005 National Association of Women Business Owners.

She was also recently featured in ECLIPSE MAGAZINE's "Texas 40 and Under Overachievers", October 2005 issue.

One of her proudest accomplishments has been the formation of the Texas Women's Empowerment Foundation. This foundation seeks to serve the whole woman, bringing a sense of completeness to the lives of African-American women in humanity. Among some of the events hosted by TWEF, so far, has been a luncheon with the illustrious Susan Taylor, Editorial Director of Essence Magazine and an Empowerment Conference with motivational speaker, Les Brown, in 2005. Ms. Daughtry's vision is to equip and demonstrate to women how to apply Godly principals in today's society while living a balanced life. She is now proud to present her autobiographical book, " From Purpose to Blessings" to encourage others to find their purpose and pursue their dreams.