Our Team

Melvyn Hayward

Chief Program Officer

As the Chief Program Officer, Mel oversees all of CRED’s outreach and programming efforts, in addition to maintaining relationships with key programming partners on the West and South Sides of Chicago.

Prior to joining CRED, Melvyn was the executive director and co-founder of HELPER Foundation, a leading player in Los Angeles’ gang reduction efforts for 20 years. Additionally, Mel has traveled to 30 cities throughout the U.S., training outreach workers, developing best practices and providing technical support to several violence-reduction agencies.