ANNOUNCEMENT
Special Announcement from CCFY’s Board of Directors
Today, we want to announce to our beloved community of friends, family, colleagues and allies that after careful and intentional time of rest and self-care, our wonderful and fearless Founder and Executive Director, Rev. Ruben Austria, has formally stepped away from his role as the Executive Director of Community Connections for Youth as of October 12, 2023.
Dear Friends of CCFY,
With an unwavering belief that “the answer is in the community”, Rev. Austria brought to life the envisioning of youth being fully served by the loving embrace of a local community intimately acquainted with their struggles and eager to step in. Using his strong strategic capabilities and the energy of his life’s calling, Ruben has grown CCFY into a champion of a work that has demonstrated over and over again that the community resources that systems have traditionally overlooked, are the key to a sustainable world free of youth prisons.
Over the years, Ruben made many connections with people from all walks of life who have become friends and allies in the work. Gladys Carrion, former Commissioner of ACS and OCFS, wrote that Ruben is “a visionary leader who has been instrumental in helping shape and drive transformative change in the New York youth justice system. Ruben has been a consistent voice for investing in young people, resourcing communities and closing youth prisons. We are all in debt to Ruben for his fearless advocacy, for envisioning a future without bars for all young people, creating CCFY to lead the way and his unwavering faith that we could do better by our youth”.
From its humble beginnings, Ruben founded CCFY, along with a team of community believers, on the core values of faith, hope and love; that is, faith that all young people have a purpose and destiny regardless of what’s happened in their lives, hope through the expectation of success and assurance that they can make it, and most of all, love, which is the unconditional acceptance of who they are and the commitment to see them through.
Clinton Lacey, President and CEO of the Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement - CM3 wished Ruben well and wrote us this message: “Over the years I have had the honor of working closely with Ruben, and while he has continuously sought and created innovation and growth, he has also stayed the same easy going yet steadfast, serious brother. All about the work but also really funny with a great sense of humor. For years, Ruben has humbly displayed his vast talent. He is an excellent writer, public speaker, strategist, and musician. Ruben's high intelligence is only perhaps surpassed by his enduring kindness. But most of all Ruben is a devoted son, brother, and father. Congrats on completing this phase of your journey my brother! Much love”.
We also wish Ruben well and thank him for all he has done for CCFY and the movement to end youth incarceration. We look forward to his continued involvement with CCFY and also what is next for him as he continues to move this work forward.
In 2024 CCFY will celebrate 15 years of existence. We lift up the state of joy this organization exists in as we see the fruit of our message with every interaction.
It is from this view that we happily announce that our former Strategic Advisor and current Interim ED, Belinda Ramos, has been appointed as the new Executive Director of CCFY by our board and at the recommendation of Rev. Ruben Austria!
As we move into our new season, we are filled with great anticipation with new things in store as CCFY’s work expands through a changing landscape.
Recognizing one of CCFY’s greatest strengths is pulling in wholly devoted individuals who can imagine how #nokidsincages can be accomplished, we are filled with gratitude that co-laborers within the organization can continue the work beyond its founder.
Belinda joined CCFY in 2014, taking on the task of being the lead trainer and technical assistance manager of the Arches Program, NYC’s Department of Probation flagship credible messenger based program. Her deep dive into supporting credible messenger work locally and around the country, pushed her deeper into CCFY’s capacity-building efforts and brought her forward as a formidable thought-partner as the work grew. Coming from a world of training, development and research around peer parent support through the Research Foundation for Mental Health and Columbia University, she found her true home with the justice community. Here, she has continued to echo the resounding belief that the most effective people are often overlooked for investment. As a justice-impacted family-member who credits her own survival to being part of a supportive community, Belinda fully embraces this new opportunity to carry the torch of faith, hope and love for youth and families of color who continue to wait on a world that will do its very best for them. Seeing homegrown leadership evolve into greater roles is a victory of the organization and a testament of how vision marches on.
We are pleased that Belinda will continue to lead CCFY and oversee all initiatives including the newly launched South Bronx Youth Justice Capacity Challenge. As we approach these new horizons, CCFY remains firm in the belief that a world without juvenile prisons is possible if communities are fully resourced to support, hold accountable, and care for their young people. We are confident that during this period of transition, Ms. Ramos and the CCFY team will continue to move the organization forward towards a future where there are no kids in cages.
As we all know, Rev. Ruben Austria has been an exceptional leader, guiding CCFY to new heights with his vision, expertise, and dedication.
He will continue to lend his expertise both to CCFY and to partner organizations seeking capacity-building efforts. We share this news in celebration of the courage it takes to transition the close to heart responsibilities of an organization and to trust it in the hands of another.