A Baton Rouge native and graduate of Scotlandville Magnet High School, Antonio Richardson’s commitment to education and youth development began immediately after graduation, when he joined AmeriCorps to serve with City Year Baton Rouge. That early experience set the course for a career spent building stronger organizations, teams, partnerships, and systems in service of communities and social impact, focused on expanding opportunities for young people through education, workforce development, and mental health.

After City Year Baton Rouge, Antonio continued serving young people through the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Baton Rouge, then joined the startup team that launched City Year Orlando, helping establish school partnerships, build organizational culture, create operating rhythms, and demonstrate the value of City Year in a community that had never had a site before. He later continued on with City Year Washington, DC, where his responsibilities grew into program operations, compliance, workforce development, and organizational leadership.

Antonio later joined Year Up United, helping strengthen organizational systems that supported pathways to economic opportunity for young adults. He went on to serve as Chief People Officer at Student Achievement Partners, a national nonprofit committed to educational equity by helping ensure all students, particularly Black, multilingual, and historically underserved students, have access to rigorous, grade-level instruction and high academic expectations. In that role, he partnered with executive leadership to rebuild core people systems that strengthened the organization’s ability to deliver on its mission during a period of significant growth.

Today, Antonio serves as People & Operations Director at Hopebound, where he leads people operations, organizational systems, and strategic partnerships that support the organization’s continued growth. His work focuses on building the infrastructure, partnerships, and internal capacity needed to expand access to high-quality mental health services for children, adolescents, and young adults while positioning the organization for lasting impact.

Antonio’s commitment to leadership and service extends beyond his professional roles. He is a graduate of City Year’s selective LEAD Executive Class and the UNSCHOOL Fellowship in Cape Town, South Africa, where he explored systems thinking, social innovation, and equitable approaches to solving complex community challenges.

After building his career with organizations serving communities across the country, Antonio returned home to the Baton Rouge area with a desire to invest those experiences in the community that first shaped him. Now, as the next generation of his family comes through the local school system, that commitment has become even more personal. He wants to help ensure they, and every child in Baton Rouge, have access to a quality, rigorous, and joyful education. As a member of the 2026-2027 CHANGEMAKERS cohort, he looks forward to learning alongside educators, families, students, and community leaders while helping strengthen opportunities for children and families throughout Baton Rouge.