Carl Hardrick, known to many as Brother Carl, was born and raised in Hartford. Since the 1960s, Carl has served as a youth development leader, gang intervention specialist, and community activist, known for helping youths to stay away from gangs and providing them with life-changing alternatives. Currently employed by the Wilson-Gray YMCA and in partnership with Hartford Communities That Care Crisis Intervention Team, Carl is a first responder to help shooting victims and their families. He coordinates his gang intervention strategies with Hartford Public Schools, Hartford Peace Builders, and Hartford Police Department.

Carl was the founder and executive director of the Hartford Youth Peace Initiative, and has served on the boards of the Women’s League Daycare Center, the Upper Albany Neighborhood Collaborative, the Community Renewal Team, South Arsenal Neighborhood Development, the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprises, and the National Tenant Association. His numerous recognitions include Ambassador of Peace (National Leadership Council of Bridgeport), Achievement Against the Odds (National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise), and the Milton/Brown Equal Opportunity Award (Urban League of Greater Hartford). Brother Carl was also the first to pilot a Violence Free Zone (VFZ) gang intervention and reduction program in Connecticut during the 1990s. Today, VFZ strategies guide the work of countless other intervention specialists throughout the state of Connecticut.