John E. Dixon Jr. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN E. DIXON

Miami– Three years ago during his retirement party, former MiamiDade Commissioner Audrey Edmonson presented a county proclamation to John E. Dixon Jr., for 35 years of services including taking on leadership roles at MiamiDade Economic Advocacy Trust (MDEAT), MAPP and the Beacon Council.

July 23, 2021 was declared John E. Dixon Jr., Day during the ceremony at Miami Shores Country Club.

On July 23, 2024, Dixon, his wife, family members and friends commemorated his special day with a dinner and reflected on the impact he made in Miami-Dade County from economic development, assisting first time homebuyers with down payment programs, expanding businesses and given troubled youths a second chance so they can have a bright future.

Dixon, who was born in Buffalo, said the past couple of years, he really didn’t think about the honor until his wife and her friend brought it and wanted to celebrate it like a holiday.

"I don’t walk around with the proclamation around my neck," Dixon quipped with laughter. "My wife and her friends, a sorority sister from AKA, said ‘Happy John Dixon Day!"

He said the proclamation by Edmonson was a surprise and glad his childhood friends from Buffalo and those who live in Atlanta traveled to Miami Shores to honor him.

"It was a great time," he said. "I must acknowledge the staff at MDEAT and the Beacon Council and other past employees I worked with put together the retirement luncheon. But I was surprised about John E. Dixon Jr., Day."

Dixon retired leaving a trail of accomplishments and was called a community icon for strengthening economic development throughout Miami-Dade.

Dixon was the executive director of Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust (MDEAT) whose mission is to ensure equitable participation of Blacks in the county’s economic growth through advocacy and monitoring of economic conditions and development initiatives.

Since its debut in 2008, MDEAT has focused on addressing socioeconomic disparities with the Black community by supporting individual family members, expanding homeownership and fostering strong Black businesses and economic development.

Dixon said among the trust’s goals was helping first time home buyers with downpayments on their homes.

He said the trust wanted to make sure Blacks were not being taken advantage of for homeowner’s assistance programs since Hispanics constitute about 65 percent of the population in Miami-Dade.

He said 60 percent of the grants went to non-Blacks and Blacks received 40 percent of the dollars for the homeowners assistance program.

"We had no issue taking our money for first time homeowners since the county has a large Hispanic population," Dixon said.

He said the numbers are rising for Blacks under current trust’s Executive Director Bill Diggs.

"The biggest thing I’m proud of is helping people and being able to work effectively with people," Dixon said. "I tell my staff I know county, city folks, people from the education community, clergymen, public and private sectors, and the big thing is to walk in a room humbly and say I need your help to get your assignment done." Dixon said MDEAT was a modified version of Miami-Dade’s MetroMiami Action Plan (MMAP) which was created in 1983 as a solution to socioeconomic disparities in employment, economic development, education and housing following the 1980 McDuffie uprising.

Dixon was then the executive director of MMAP.

He said in 2007, Edmonson wanted a new identity for the program and tapped prominent attorney H.T. Smith to review the program and decide what’s missing.

In 2008, Smith and his group came up with new ideas with a similar mission with new core programs including expanding housing assistance and creating grants for small businesses with 100 employees or less.

Dixon said the businesses had to be in good standing with the county to qualify for the grants.

He said the program was renamed MDEAT and it worked.

When Dixon moved to Miami in 1984, he began teaching at Florida Heights Elementary School in Brownsville.

But he had his heart set on public service since he earned a degree in political science.

Dixon said he landed a job with a Miami-Dade agency called Partners for Youth, which helped kids countywide get jobs.

"All the sites had supervisors but I was the person who interacted with each supervisor," Dixon said.