Otis Bullock, Esq.
As Executive Director of Diversified Community Services, a 100+ employee community based organization with more than $4 million in assets; Otis has dedicated his career to fighting poverty, strengthening communities, and ensuring equal opportunity for all Philadelphians.
Diversified Community Services provides a wide range of social services to promote the healthy development of children and families; and is deeply engaged in community economic development work in Point Breeze. Given his background, there is no surprise that Otis spends his time working for distressed communities.
Otis was raised in North Central Philadelphia and the Mantua section of West Philadelphia with his 14 siblings. An avid chess player, Otis learned to play the game of chess at the age of 10 while attending Vaux Middle School. His love for the game, the subtle, critical, and strategic ideas of chess were powerful tools in giving Otis the foresight to plan ahead and sacrifice in order to achieve what has been deemed unachievable for an impoverished inner-city child.
Otis was featured in The Immortality of Influence, by Salome Thomas-El ©, and I Choose to Stay, a memoir by Salome Thomas-El © 2003, excerpted and adapted in Chicken Soup for the African American Soul © 2004. The chapter centered on how Otis, a former chess student of Salome Thomas-El at Vaux Middle School, beat the odds and became Thomas-El’s first student to graduate from college.
A graduate of University City High School, Otis went on to receive his postsecondary education from local universities, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from West Chester University in 2000, and his law degree from Temple University School of Law in 2004. After law school, Otis did not forget his roots in Philadelphia’s inner-city. He served the residents of West Philadelphia as a legislative aid for Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell and later started his own law practice with offices in both Center City and North Philadelphia. He and his wife Donna also purchased a home in the Strawberry Mansion section of North Philadelphia, where they serve as role models for many young people.
Otis served as the Outreach Director for the 2007 Nutter for Mayor Campaign. After a successful campaign, Otis joined the Administration as the Deputy Executive Director at the Mayor’s Office of Community Service. Mayor Michael A. Nutter later appointed Otis as the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Service. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing about $7 million of state and federal grant funds, and developing anti-poverty initiatives for the Administration.
Otis has twice been honored by The Philadelphia Tribune as one of Philadelphia’s Most Influential African American Leaders. He was featured in Billy Penn’s “Who’s Next, The Givers: 15 young Philadelphians shaping the city’s philanthropy sector.” In 2015, Otis was awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Otis is also a recipient of the 2015 MLK “Drum Major for Justice” Award and the 2012 Legacy of Leadership Award, presented by West Chester University. Otis currently lives in Strawberry Mansion with his wife, State Rep. Donna Bullock, and two sons Malcolm and Xavier.
