Juan Ramos is long time community leader, activist, and non-profit manager who currently serves as Executive Director of Southside United HDFC- Los Surs where he looks to continue to build on the organization’s core mission and long history of housing advocacy, the development and preservation of affordable housing, and social services. Juan has also expanded the organizations work to include organizing public housing residents around issues of disinvestment, public safety and working to address issues of gun and gang violence. Through this anti-violence initiative, Juan began the Neighborhood Safety Coalition and founded its core program “The Wick Against Violence”.

Juan’s history of community and anti-violence work includes working at Center for Court Innovation where served as Deputy Director of the Crown Heights Mediation Center and Cofounded their Save Our Streets Bed-Stuy anti-gun violence initiative in his home community of Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn. Juan has also served as Director of the Domestic Violence Men’s program at Safe Horizon.

Juan has worked with men on issues ranging from gang violence, community-based violence, domestic violence, and men’s trauma related to violence. Juan has also done extensive community organizing around housing, and racial equality. Juan has been recognized for his work By El Diario La Prensa as one of their “El Award “recipients- recognizing some of the most influential Latino men in the tristate area. Juan was also recognized as one of New York City Advocates of the year by the mayor’s office on Gender Based Violence and by Brooklyn Legal Services with the Shriver award for Community Service in 2018.

Juan believes that in order to eradicate violence in our communities we must adopt a holistic approach to understanding violence and its origins and work with everyone including offenders to undo the harm caused.