John Valverde is the President and CEO of YouthBuild USA, Inc. He joined YouthBuild in 2017 after decades of work as an advocate for creating access to opportunity and removing barriers for formerly incarcerated and marginalized people.
John began working with imprisoned individuals in 1992 to ensure access to HIV/AIDS counseling, high school equivalency instruction, alternatives to violence programs, and college education. In 1998, he co-founded Hudson Link for Higher Education, the first privately funded accredited college program in New York’s prisons. He also was part of the team that developed the first green jobs training program for formerly incarcerated people in NYC and led programs for young adults with criminal justice involvement.