The people building a future without violence.

Neil Irvin is a highly committed and collaborative professional with over 25 years of youth development and leadership experience. He previously served as Senior Director of Programs, a position he held since 2008, following five years as Director of Community Education. In his current role as Executive Director, Neil is responsible for leading MCSR’s national work; cultivating strategic partnerships with state and federal agencies and private and corporate foundations; and overseeing all programs, which include the award-winning youth development program, training and technical assistance for youth-serving professionals, and Strength Media public awareness campaign.

Named one of the most promising “50 Strategies to Prevent Violent Domestic Crime” by the National Crime Prevention Council, the Men of Strength (MOST) Club provides middle school and high school age males with a structured space to build individualized definitions of masculinity that promote healthy relationships. Since joining the organization in 2001, Neil has grown this program from one site in Washington, DC to over 100 locations in ten states across the country. In 2007, he brought the MOST Club to every public high school in the District of Columbia, the largest city-wide effort of its kind in the country.

Well known throughout the country in the field of gender-based violence prevention, Neil currently serves on the Dept of Justice’s National Advisory Committee and is a member of the NoVo Foundation’s prestigious Move to End Violence initiative. He has also served as a consultant to The White House Commission on Violence Against Women and Girls, Boys and Girls Club, Ford Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Liz Claiborne Foundation. In addition, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health and has been a regular lecturer at American University, George Washington University, and Howard University.

Neil has a long history of working to enrich the lives of youth, especially young men. Having worked as a basketball coach, camp counselor, and director of after-school programs at the YMCA, he decided to dedicate his professional career to working with youth as it always felt “inspiring, energizing, and effortless.”

Rachel Friedman brings remarkable skills and talent to her position as the first Deputy Director of MCSR. Appointed in May 2012, she began her career in the organization in 2008 as Development Coordinator and worked her way up to Director of Foundation and Government Grants in 2009.

Ms. Friedman works closely with MCSR’s Executive Director Neil Irvin, helping set priorities and direction for the organization’s short- and long-term goals. In this role, she focuses on the management of day-to-day activities of the organization, including the smooth integration of policy, development, finance, communications, programs, and administrative functions to ensure seamless operations and achievement of strategic goals. She leads the organization’s national Assault. Services. Knowledge. (ASK) project, a website and downloadable app that combines life-saving and pertinent resources for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and intimate partner violence, as well as their friends, family members, and colleagues.

As part of this and in partnership with the DC Rape Crisis Center, Ms. Friedman leads the District’s sexual assault coalition, now called the DC Coalition to End Sexual Violence (DCCESV). Since 2010, she has played a lead role in establishing summer youth programs and contributed to the establishment of the organization’s youth development program for girls, Women Inspiring Strength and Empowerment (WISE).

Since joining the organization, Ms. Friedman has helped to secure over $7 million by seeking out new funding sources and engaging in outreach with funders and donors. She holds an M.B.A from Trinity Washington University and graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a B.A. in Women’s Studies. She lives in Southwest DC with her husband, Adam, and is a proud native of Silver Spring, Maryland.