Patrick Young

Patrick previously served as the first director of the Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) for the City of New Orleans. Prior to working in Mayor Cantrell’s administration, Patrick served as training manager of Talent and Workforce Development at New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA). In partnership with four local opportunity centers, Patrick oversaw trainers who taught a New Orleans-model of the STRIVE® work readiness training program.

Patrick was recognized as a 2021 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Fellow for his proven leadership and dedication to making the city of New Orleans one of the best cities in the world. And more recently, He was selected in 2023 to participate in the inaugural Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy in partnership with the University of Chicago.

During the shelter-in-place phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, Patrick became the first-time author of A Way Up: Economic Development Post Incarceration, a guide that offers strategies for wealth building after a conviction. He is a certified community organizer from Midwest Organizing Academy; a certified Advanced Core Trainer from STRIVE® International; a graduate of the New Orleans Business Alliance Economic Development Ambassadors Program; a Nancy M. Marsiglia Institute of Justice Fellow; a recipient of the 100 Black Men of New Orleans Innovator of the Year Award;.

But his most proud accomplishment and important responsibility is being father to his daughter, Paris, and to his son, Paxton.

“We have to create spaces of healing not just recycle traumas.” ─PATRICK M. YOUNG

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