Team

Founder and CEO

Jose Ferran Jr. is a North Philadelphia native who loves people and loves to serve people. He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Hunting Park Green (HP Green). Jose’s turning point in life was at the age of 17, when he was shot. He was offered support through a hospital-based violence intervention program, Healing Hurt People (HHP), that helped him embrace a greater sense of purpose and land his first job. After receiving life-changing support from HHP, he worked there for 6 years, offering guidance to young people who have also suffered violent injuries.  

The death of a community green champion led Jose to found HP Green. Jose had grown in his belief that every young person should have access to opportunities to give back to their neighborhood, and be the best version of  themselves just like he eventually did at the age of 17. That led Jose to study Social Work at Temple University. Since 2021, HP Green has provided recurring grassroots services to enhance the community with mentorship for youth.

In 2020, Jose decided that he needed funding to make HP Green a reality – the participants in the program needed to be paid for their time and he needed more materials for neighborhood beautification efforts. Jose took extra jobs, at one point working three jobs, so he could have enough money to fund the different programs that HP Green has to offer. Jose invested $26,000 of his own savings to fund two pilots. The initial investment helped fund HP Green’s 9-month service-learning experience program for young people in North Philadelphia to get paid to heal from adversity, reimagine and mobilize others to transform their neighborhood.