Our Leadership
Credible messengers leading from lived experience
- • Executive Director, L.O.V.E. (2020–present)
- • Giffords Community Violence Intervention Fellow
- • Cities United Network Member
- • Author: Danger Zone
- • Hampton Roads Community Leader
Adrian Cook
Founder & Executive Director
Adrian Cook founded Let Our Voices Empower in 2020 with a singular mission: to use his own lived experience to create pathways out of violence and poverty for young people in Hampton Roads. His journey — from incarceration to community leadership — is the foundation of everything L.O.V.E. does.
Adrian's approach is rooted in the philosophy that credible messengers — people who have walked the same streets, faced the same choices, and found a different path — are uniquely positioned to reach at-risk youth in ways that traditional service providers cannot. He brings not just empathy, but authentic understanding of the systems, pressures, and choices that young people face.
Under his leadership, L.O.V.E. has grown from a grassroots initiative to a recognized 501(c)(3) organization with partnerships with the City of Hampton, the City of Newport News, Hampton University, Monarch Clinical & Consulting Services, Giffords Law Center, and Cities United.
Adrian has presented at national conferences including the Giffords Community Violence Intervention Conference and has been recognized as a leading voice in the community violence intervention field. He is also the author of Danger Zone: How Your Comfort Zone Can Be Your Achilles Heel, a book that distills his philosophy of personal transformation.
Research & Academic Partners
L.O.V.E. partners with Hampton University to ensure our programs are grounded in evidence-based research and rigorous evaluation.
Dr. Richard M. Mason, Jr.
Hampton University
Leads the academic research oversight for the Hampton Violence Interrupter Program, ensuring program evaluation meets rigorous academic standards and produces actionable insights for program improvement.
Dr. Denise Charbonnet
Hampton University
Co-leads the research initiative with a focus on community-based participatory research methods that center the voices and experiences of program participants in the evaluation process.
Clinical Partnership
L.O.V.E. partners with Monarch Clinical & Consulting Services to provide trauma-informed clinical support for program participants. This partnership ensures that youth receive professional mental health services alongside the mentoring and life coaching provided by our credible messengers.
Monarch's clinical team conducts mental health assessments, provides individual and group therapy, and supports the overall trauma-informed approach that underpins all of L.O.V.E.'s programming.
- • Mental health assessments
- • Individual therapy
- • Group therapy
- • Trauma-informed care
- • Crisis intervention
- • Family counseling
National Recognition
