AboutComprehensive Dental Science, PC

Dr. Lukman Bilal Beckles was born and raised in Harlem, New York City. He attended NYC public schools and began his dental career in high school as a volunteer Dental Assistant at age 17 - through an Urban League initiative. While interested in medicine, he had no experience or desire to be in dentistry. It wasn’t until a young Dr. Beckles was recruited to the dental wing by one of his mentors, Dr. Robert North, that Dr. Beckles gained an appreciation for dentistry. Alongside other residents, Dr. Beckles was privileged to learn from many attending doctors from various dental specialties, including Dr. White and Dr. McIntosh. During that experience, Dr. Beckles found his career and passion for the craft.

In late 2019, Dr. Beckles was offered an opportunity to take the helm and continue the legacy started by Dr. White, who was planning to retire. As the Department Chair and a mentor to Dr. Beckles while he attended Columbia University’s Prosthodontic Post-Graduate residency program, Dr. White strongly felt that it was the right decision for Dr. Beckles to continue to move the practice forward. In 2021, it became a reality with Dr. Beckles taking over and continuing the same quality prosthodontic care and bringing Obstructive Sleep Apnea treatment to the community of Harlem and the entire New York Metropolitan area.

In addition, because of the assistance received along his path, Dr. Beckles has made it his mission to usher in the next generation of students to his respective institutions and has provided admissions assistance and financial aid to students in need.

While continuing the tradition of quality care associated with Comprehensive Dental Specialists, founded by Dr. George Shelby White and Dr. James McIntosh in 1979, the practice has been a hub of growth and development for black dental professionals for over forty years.

As the Chief Operating & Growth Officer of Comprehensive Dental Services (CDS), Darryl is responsible for oversight of CDS’s ongoing operations, procedures and growth. In this role, Darryl leads CDS’s efforts in designing and implementing diverse business strategies, plans and procedures, while overseeing the company’s expansion strategy, in terms of both revenue and stakeholder growth. Darryl also develops solutions to drive pipeline development, recruitment, and retention for the practice and the dental industry at large. Darryl also serves as director of diversity, equity and inclusion at the Institute of Management Accountants where he is responsible for oversight of IMA’s DEI activities, furthering its commitment to cultivating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture among IMA’s members and the accounting and finance profession at large. In this role, Darryl leads IMA’s efforts toward creating more opportunities for all accounting professionals and closing a profession-wide diversity gap. Certified by Cornell University in Diversity and Inclusion, Darryl employs his philosophy focusing on four primary areas: access, exposure, recognition, and development.

Darryl began his career in government and finance as a loan officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later moved into mortgage loans. After seven years in finance, Darryl pivoted to a career in non-profit and association management, serving as director of membership services and marketing for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; as chapter development specialist for the Project Management Institute (PMI) and as manager of chapter operations and mentoring relations for the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) where he worked with organizations such as Comcast, Viacom, ESPN, Charter and Cox Communications to ensure that they were indeed diverse and inclusive behind the cameras, as well as in front of the cameras.

Prior to CDS, Darryl served as director of membership acquisition and engagement with the New York State Society of CPAs and as a senior DEI consultant for Marlon Moore Consulting, where he advised organizations in areas including diversity, inclusion, stakeholder growth, cultural competence and corporate social responsibility to improve decisions in the development of policy, procedure, products, programs and initiatives.

Darryl is an active member of the American Society for Association Executives (ASAE) and has served on their Committee for Diversity and Inclusion. Darryl received his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Business and Economics from Virginia State University, where he was a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Scholar, and his Masters of Business Administration from University of Maryland University College in Management. Darryl is a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management (IOM), holds ASAE’s Certified Association Executive (CAE) certification and was recently recognized by Accounting Today as one of the top 100 most influential people in accounting.