Ismael Igartua

Co-Founder

Growing up in Spanish Harlem, I inherited a twisted legacy that shaped my early years and led me down a path of toxic masculinity and incarceration.

As a young Puerto Rican kid, I absorbed a lot of negative messages. Most people I met were fixtures of the street – hoods, mobsters, gangs. I learned how to be a man and survive on the streets from broken men. I went to detention when I was 13, then prison at ages 15, 21, and 25. It became a recurring cycle. Going to jail, getting out. It was a vicious cycle that would haunt me for decades. 

In prison, I enrolled in college programs. I enjoyed being in the college classroom; it was a refuge. I started to accomplish things, and I felt proud of myself. It became a new way to show up as a man – a man with intelligence.

Today, I am the Resident Service Coordinator at Phipps Neighborhoods and a co-founder of All Kings. I am committed to leaving the world a better place, one circle and one man at a time. That is my legacy to the current and future men of those mean streets. AK is securing my legacy one circle, and one man at a time, real world impact and legacy are important to me.