Walked it
Ferome understands fear, street pressure, incarceration and rebuilding because those experiences are part of his own life.
MEET THE FOUNDER
Ferome
Brown.
He did not study community transformation from a distance. He lived the conditions, survived the consequences and built the work he once needed.
LIVED EXPERIENCE
The past became
a responsibility.
Ferome grew up in Minneapolis in conditions shaped by poverty, instability, violence and limited access to opportunity. He lost people he loved to violence, survived gun violence himself and spent years incarcerated.
During incarceration, he studied, deepened his faith and made a decision: his life would be used to help other people avoid the path he had taken. That decision became Urban Youth Conservation in 2005.
“Credibility is not a title. It is what people believe because they have watched how you live.”
WHY HIS STORY MATTERS
He can reach people
systems often miss.
Owned it
His message is grounded in responsibility—not excuses—and the belief that a hard chapter does not have to become the whole story.
Built trust
That credibility opens conversations, interrupts conflict and creates room for a different choice.
Stayed
For more than 20 years, Ferome has remained connected to the community, public systems and the people whose progress does not fit a short program cycle.
BELIEF THAT OPENED DOORS
Influential people saw
the work—and stood behind it.
These relationships matter because credible leaders saw sustained work, public value and a future worth investing in.
Dr. Emmett Carson
In 2005, Dr. Emmett Carson helped secure UYC’s first major investment through the Minneapolis Foundation after finding Ferome through the African American Men Project. Ferome credits that early belief and mentorship as foundational.
LinkedIn profile ↗Sasha Cotton
Ferome and Sasha Cotton built an early working relationship through Minneapolis Group Violence Intervention, connecting credible community leadership with a formal public-safety strategy. Sasha now leads the National Network for Safe Communities, a center based at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Official NNSC profile ↗Professor Mark Osler
Professor Mark Osler of the University of St. Thomas submitted Ferome’s federal pardon petition, recognizing the responsibility, service and sustained community leadership that followed Ferome’s conviction.
LinkedIn profile ↗Judge Michael J. Davis
Former United States District Court Judge Michael J. Davis has supported Ferome’s clemency effort and the larger record of transformation behind it.
Official court profile ↗A SECOND-CHANCE STORY STILL BEING WRITTEN
A federal pardon petition
remains pending.
Professor Mark Osler submitted the petition on Ferome’s behalf, with support from former U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Davis. The petition matters—but it does not define the work. The strongest case is the life Ferome has built since his conviction: two decades of community service, violence-prevention leadership and pathways for people navigating their own second chance.
WHAT HE SEES NEXT