Kevin T. Gay is the Founder of Operation New Hope and led the organization as CEO from 1999-2022. Under Kevin’s 23 years of stewardship, Operation New Hope helped more than 10,000 individuals impacted by the criminal justice system successfully reconnect to the workforce, their families, and their communities. Kevin put Jacksonville on the national stage for leading the movement in reentry and criminal justice reform. Kevin’s impact is evident in the transformation stories of clients, enhanced hiring practices for employers, healthier communities and families, and increased public safety.

Kevin T. Gay is a native of Jacksonville, FL and a graduate of the University of Florida. He left corporate America in 1999 and founded Operation New Hope to create a new model for community development. He felt that while there were many houses in many urban communities in need of major restoration there were also many people broken and in need of Hope once again. Thus, Operation New Hope was born to bring hope in the form of new housing, new skills leading to new jobs and a revitalized community. In June of 2002, Kevin was invited to meet with President George W. Bush and Secretary of labor Elain Chao. This meeting led to ONH being selected by the White House to develop the first national model for prisoner re­entry called Ready4Work. This employment-based re-entry model was then introduced in 16 other cities around the country. Ready4Work Jacksonville has gained national attention because of its impact in reducing recidivism.

He is a founding member of Reconcile Jacksonville, which has helped build partnerships between more than forty Black and White churches since 1992. In 2003, the City of Jacksonville nominated Kevin for a national award through Neighborhoods USA (NUSA) and on May 22, 2003 he and nine others from around the country received the prestigious NUSA Notables Award. Previous winners are Willard Scott of the Today Show and distinguished television personality Ms. Oprah Winfrey.

Kevin has served on numerous community boards including HabiJax, one of the nation’s largest Habitat for Humanity affiliates, and Gateway Community Services. He was part of the management committee for the Jacksonville Community Council Inc. study titled, “Neighborhoods on the Tipping Point.” He was also invited by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to serve on the management team for a study addressing violence titled, “Reducing the Violence: A Community Response.” Kevin served on Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil’s Prisoner Reentry Advisory Board for the State of Florida and in 2021 was selected to serve on the Florida Bar Citizens Advisory Council. He is currently serving as Board Chair of the Florida Foundation for Correctional Excellence and as Board Vice Chair of the Jacksonville Kids Hope Alliance.

In October of 2007, President Bill Clinton cited Kevin for his work in prisoner reentry in his book “Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World.” In 2008, Kevin was invited by President George W. Bush to join him at the White House for the signing of the Second Chance Act. During the presidential campaign in July 2008, President Barack Obama mentioned the Ready4Work reentry program in a national speech on religion. Kevin is a contributor to several publications on reentry, including Governor Jeb Bush’s Ex-Offender Task Force Report in 2006, as well as articles in Forbes magazine and the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center on reentry.