ANTHONY DURDEN

Anthony Durden — Founder, President, and COO of S.H.E.A.R. Inc. and an active member of the Circle of Brotherhood — was born in Miami, moved to Compton, CA at age 6 after his parents' divorce, got pulled into drugs, gangs, and robbery as a teen, and returned to Miami at 18. Between ages 18 and 32 he served 14 years incarcerated (armed robbery, weapons and resisting‑arrest charges). About 15 years before a 2019 Miami Times profile, while homeless and using crack in an abandoned Overtown building, he experienced what he describes as a call from God — and preached his first sermon in that crack house. The Miami Rescue Mission became the turning point: he rebuilt his life there, learned computer skills, and landed a job through a mission contact at a professional lighting company (Chauvet), where he's worked 12+ years — a trade he now also uses to help light church and community events.

His own framing of the ministry's philosophy: "God is not waiting on you to get fixed, he will meet you where you are."

CONNECTION TO TTC / TALENT4CHANGE

S.H.E.A.R. Inc. is a formal T4C Miami Village partner org (alongside H2O Digital Arts), and the relationship spans several distinct threads:

• T4C has sponsored Durden's Hip‑Hop Summit & Black Business Expo with a Change Rover DJ workshop and bookbags, via T4C's relationship with Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp. TTC member Ephniko also hosted a DJ Workshop at the expo.
• Separately, Stylist Boost (T4C's mobile beauty salon/barbershop Change Rover build) ran at Northwestern Senior High — free haircuts and clothes for youth, alongside 1000 Role Models and Miami Rescue Mission.
• DJ Lu (ILoveAvenue) hosted DJ workshops at two events in Durden's orbit: the Wheelchair Basketball event — part of Miami Gardens' Special Games (Nov 6, 2021, Bunche Park Recreational Center, hosted by Councilwoman Shannan "Lady" Ighodaro, with SHEAR Inc. as an event sponsor) — and at Circle of Brotherhood HQ (the Dr. Dorothy Bendross‑Mindingall Social & Economic Institute) as part of ILoveAvenue's "Christmas in July" toy drive, a collaboration DJ Lu and T4C have repeated multiple times.
• Durden helped Ignite The Culture (ITC) secure a 2024 Change Rover sponsorship — T4C handled setup/breakdown and ran a DJ Workshop inside the Change Rover led by Brotha Scott. Durden connected TTC and ITC, which led to TTC presenting the Talent Search Contest opportunity to TTC member Lil Yellow — who won 1st place, credited to TTC's own performance consultation.
• Durden organized a hip‑hop event at Circle of Brotherhood featuring TTC members Alexander Star, TruAlity MENTOR, and Popp Da Rippa.
• Durden got the Change Rover featured in the MLK Parade, spotlighting Circle of Brotherhood's community work.

Speaking / Testimony — Booked through Circle of Speakers under the framing "From Crack to Christ." Their pitch: "If you want to reach the unreachable, he is your guy." Fits reentry programs, recovery ministries, youth‑at‑risk assemblies, men's conferences.

Hip‑Hop Summit & Black Business Expo — His flagship annual event (2026 edition: Sat Aug 8, 1–5pm, at S.H.E.A.R.'s home address), combining music‑industry discussion with Black entrepreneurship networking — the natural anchor point for continued TTC/T4C collaboration.

Prison & Death Row Ministry — Regularly ministers inside correctional facilities, including death row.

Street Baptisms / "Saving Souls Challenge" — Created a social‑media evangelism movement; performs public baptisms of former gang members and addicts on the street (one Facebook video hit ~2 million views).

• S.H.E.A.R. Inc. programs:Holy Ghost N Da Hood — Saving Our Youth (mentoring for ages 13–18, especially ex‑offenders, aimed at preventing truancy; also runs as an annual gospel concert at Miami Rescue Mission)
• Stylist Boost (free haircuts/clothing for youth, e.g. Northwestern Senior High with 1000 Role Models and Miami Rescue Mission)
• Friend's & Family Day Beach Bash Baptism (homeless outreach)
• Neighbors4Neighbors Adopt‑A-Family (Thanksgiving/Christmas distribution)
• Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Easter events
• School clothes, uniforms, and supply distribution

Circle of Brotherhood involvement — One of nine members in the group's 2019 "Operation Hunger Strike" against gun violence; the org offers leadership development, life‑skills training, employment services, and career/transitional counseling (same 5120 NW 24th Ave address as S.H.E.A.R.).

Volunteer chaplaincy — Monthly volunteer at Miami Rescue Mission hosting Bible studies; active at Koinonia Worship Center & Village (Pastor Eric H. Jones Jr.).

Youth sports/community partnership — Works with the Florida Youth Football League (co‑founded by Flo Rida); helped lead fundraising to renovate Edison High School's fieldhouse in Little Haiti.

• Minister overcame addictions with help from God, mission — Miami Times (2019)
• Miami Black Business Expo asks who profits from hip‑hop and Black creativity — Miami Times
• Florida Street Preacher Issues 'Saving Souls Challenge' — CBN News (2017)
• CHAUVET DJ and TRUSST Prove to Be a Saving Grace for S.H.E.A.R., Inc.
• 9 Circle of Brotherhood members embark on a hunger strike — Miami Times (2019)
• Circle of Speakers listing
• https://boldjourney.com/meet‑anthony‑durden/