Antonio Ramirez, 27

By Martha Byrnes

Antonio Ramirez will tell you he’s motivated to guide youth growing up in Rockford, so they independently make the best choices for themselves.

In the after school program Teen Reach, he oversees the YMCA Washington Park location. Students must earn privileges like field trips, and are expected to volunteer to clean up their space. “They need to understand that choices have consequences—good choices are rewarded; poor choices result in missed opportunities,” Ramirez says.

In high school, Ramirez hung out with other youth whose poor choices brought serious consequences, including the shooting death of a buddy driving the car he was riding in. As president of the national YouthBuild he doesn’t hesitate to share this story in workshops or when serving as a panelist. It’s a lead-in to how YouthBuild Rockford helped him refocus his life and start a professional career with the YMCA.

“I just do the work that I do because it’s my passion,” Ramirez explains. His passions include directing the Black & Hispanic Achievers Program and serving on the Latino Leadership Council and as immediate past president of the Rock Valley College Association of Latin American Students.

YMCA spokesperson Jan M. Jann says, “Because of his charismatic leadership style, his commitment to follow-through, and his open, friendly personality, Antonio is recruited to help out with many community initiatives.”

With a goal of urging more adults in Rockford to become positive rolemodels for youth, Ramirez, father of two, volunteers with the Rockford Public School’s Bilingual Parent Advisory Council, the County’s Youth Alcohol Abuse Prevention Coalition, La Voz Latina and the city’s N-Factor program.

“The rewards are in seeing individual students get on the right path for their future,” Ramirez says.