Edward Ramirez was born in San Jose, California, where he and his six siblings enjoyed a comfortable upbringing because of his mother’s commitment to the home and his father’s devotion to maintaining the family business.

Edward’s appreciation for life was quickly stricken by his anger. He made his way in and out of Juvenile Centers and Youth Authorities, until he took, what he thought to be his final boarding, to begin serving a fifteen-year to life prison term. Little did he realize that life didn’t end here – that family and friends were still near – that God knew him by name and held such an awesome plan for his life.

During his incarceration, Edward committed his life to God and declared that he would stop serving time and would instead begin to let time serve him. He wasn’t going to allow an opportunity to slip away and it wasn’t long before he earned his high school diploma and College Degree. He took part in multiple self-help programs and training sessions that not only equipped him to deal with the obvious challenges that come with “life”, but also with tools which were instrumental in many of the studies and trainings that he later facilitated. Edward is one of the founding members of Project IMPACT and has been privileged to facilitate the program within several California Youth Authorities.

On February 24, 2005, twenty-three years after entering a State Correctional Facility, Edward walked out of San Quentin State Prison. The following May, he and his wife Lupe were married and today they work and live in the city of Sunnyvale, thankful for the many other opportunities life brings.