Ed was named Vice President for Community Engagement at Justice Resource Institute (JRI) in May 2014. He builds community relationships that allow JRI to bring its trauma informed programming to neighborhoods affected by violence. Edward M. Powell brings over 20 years of experience in the private and not-for-profit sectors in a career spent working to improve the lives of young people through violence prevention, education and employment. Recently Ed was the Executive Director of StreetSafe Boston a nationally acclaimed youth violence intervention initiative of the Boston Foundation. Prior to StreetSafe, Ed was at the Boston Private Industry Council, where he served as deputy director. Prior to his appointment as deputy director of the PIC, Powell’s tenure at the PIC included almost a decade as the director of school-to-career programs.  Ed holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business.  Ed is also a graduate of Delaware State University with a B.S. in Marketing. He is a 2013 Alumnus of The Partnership Inc. Next Generation Executive program as well as a 2007 Alumnus of Boston University School of Management Institute of Non profit Management and Leadership program.​  In 2017, Ed was appointed as Executive Director of JRI's STRIVE Boston program.

Taron Tibbs graduated from Suffolk University Sawyer Business School in 2016. Taron was hired at STRIVE Boston as a Microsoft Office Specialist Trainer in 2012 and in 2018 got promoted by JRI to Senior Trainer for the STRIVE START Program in Boston.  He is currently the Program Manager and oversees all of STRIVE's programming. "He enjoys helping people in his community and making a difference." 

Hewitt Joyner has worked as a 1990’s Streetworker, Streetworker Program Manager, A COO for the Aquarius Project, the Director-New Bedford Shannon/SSYI and Facilitator/Case Manager for STRIVE Boston. Hewitt Joyner created the Three C’s which an impulsivity reduction training, focusing on changing impulsive thinkers to critical thinkers. The 3 C’s was executed and evaluated in San Jose, Hayward, Gilroy and in Oakland California as well as New Bedford, Mass. It stems from two of Boston’s juvenile operations from the 90’s, the Street worker Program & Operation Cease-Fire initiative. Cease Fire was a program that literally halted the juvenile gun homicide rate in Boston for two and half years. In 2008, this program was considered a Best Practices Program by the Department of Justice.

Since inception, the Three C's has been successfully trained proven risk youth/adults on critical thinking and positive life skill habits to youth/adults ranging from elementary school age to incarcerated gang members.

STRIVE Boston has a collaboration with the South Bay House of Corrections to provide rapid reentry/professional development trainings. Hewitt Joyner is the facilitator/case manager and has incorporated the 3 C’s into the trainings.

Wanda Velez-Jusino is a Central Sterile Processing Case Manager and also a STRIVE Boston graduate. She believes in helping people become all that they can be.  Also, by being a part of the team, she gets to share in the growth of people while she grows in her field. “I am looking forward to a long and rewarding career with STRIVE Boston and JRI.”