Meet Tina Padilla | Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tina Padilla and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tina, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
That violence Intervention is a professional field and one thing that people may not know about violence intervention is that it is not just about stopping the immediate act of violence. It also involves addressing the root causes of violence, such as systemic inequalities, poverty, and lack of access to resources and opportunities. Violence intervention programs like Community Warriors 4 Peace aim to provide support, education, and alternative paths for individuals involved in violence, with the goal of breaking the cycle of violence and creating safer communities.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Tina is system impacted and I had to create my own path. I have a felony on my record and it is not easy to gain employment that can sustain myself and my 5 children.

Since at one time I took from my community and I had no useful resources, I have lived experience, so I created a path for others to follow. My community knows I will help them with whatever they may need, with things such as filling out forms they don’t understand, to just simple listening. I understand the needs because I come from the community.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to Shout Out our Program Coordinator, Victor Zamora. Victor started as a client, a volunteer, a Community Intervention Worker and now he is my right hand man. I cannot run this program without him. He understands all the ins and outs as he was once a client, he knows directly what clients look for and need.

Website: www.cw4peace.org

Instagram: cw4peace_ne