John Barros, Executive Director, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative - Roxbury, Massachusetts

When he was 14, John Barros became involved with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI). He credits the support he got there with setting him on a path that led to graduation from Dartmouth, instead of the path some of his peers took, which ended in jail. Barros returned to head DSNI in 1999 and quickly made an impact. Believing that local leadership is the key to social change, he helped design and launch the Resident Development Institute to develop new leaders. Barros also is working to connect neighborhood-planning groups in the Roxbury area to form a unified advocacy and action coalition. He has focused on forming other partnerships as well, such as those between the community and investors. One example is DSNI’s community land trust, which works to develop private business ventures while preserving and creating affordable housing. Another is DSNI’s partnership with a Boston museum to build a commercial greenhouse that will provide internships as well as ongoing income for DSNI.

John F. Barros
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
504 Dudley St.
Roxbury, MA 02119
Phone: 617-442-9670 X13
Fax: 617-427-8047
Email: johnbarros@dsni.org
Web: www.dsni.org