Richard Carrington, Sr., the Founder and Executive Director of Voices Against Violence (VAV), grew up in Beltzhoover neighborhood of Pittsburgh and is the father of ten children through marriage, adoption, and fostering.
Mr. Carrington is a decorated disabled veteran who proudly served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne. He spent his last five years of military service as an instructor at the United States Military Intelligence School in Ft. Devens, MA.
He attended various universities earning degrees, including a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Mr. Carrington has received numerous awards including the first-ever Gwendolyn J. Elliott Lifetime Achievement Award, the Center for Victims of Violent Crimes’ Peacemaker of the Year, and the Iron Cross Ministries’ Humanitarian Award.
VAV grew out of a street outreach initiative by Mr. Carrington working with Pittsburgh gang members in 1992. It became one of the first and foremost anti-violence organizations in Pittsburgh, pioneering programs in Street Mediation, Conflict Resolution, Restorative Justice, and Reparative Practices. In addition to actively leading this group, which has evolved to become a critical community resource, Mr. Carrington serves as an adviser and consultant to numerous youth and violence-prevention related groups, including Pittsburgh Public School District, the Coalition Against Violence, South Pittsburgh Peacemakers, and Pittsburgh’s Citizen Police Review Board.
Since 1997, this community-focused organization has developed and implemented numerous anti-violence programs, conducted conflict mediation and resolution, created school-based programs, facilitated parent groups, managed summer employment programs, and cultivated other leaders who have since branched off to start their own programs. In addition, each summer for over twenty years, VAV hosts a free camp for area youth ages 4 to 14.
