Growing up in North Philadelphia, Nathan Sallard enjoyed the support of a tight-knit, supportive family. He and his three siblings were raised by his father, a “no-nonsense guy” and Vietnam War veteran, and his mother, who regularly brought her son to church. His house was the focal point on the block, a place where everyone in the neighborhood came for holidays and special occasions. His mom’s meals influenced him to “cook big” to this day.
Despite the strong foundation he came from, Sallard started to get into trouble when he turned 18. He was drawn to the streets, began using drugs and drinking, got into a fight, and was charged with aggravated assault. Between 1988 and 1999, he was involved in various criminal activities and served time in jail.
“Like the people that we serve right now, it was just having a mindset that I was going to be a part of whatever street life it was. And it never worked out, it just kept getting blown up in my face,” Sallard says. “And me being a spiritual person, I just looked at it as God just giving me a sign: This is not for you.”
Ultimately, the values his family instilled in him and his support network enabled Sallard to turn his life around and become a force for positive change in the world around him. Today, he is a Client Services Manager at Group Violence Intervention (GVI), a division of the Office of Safe Neighborhoods. His work at GVI has significantly improved the program’s effectiveness; the relationships he forms have changed lives.
For the impact he’s had on uplifting lives and reducing violence, Sallard is one of this year’s 2025 Integrity Icons. Integrity Icon is a program The Citizen has run in partnership with the nonprofit Accountability Lab since 2020. The goal of the program is to shine a spotlight on city workers who uphold the highest standards of integrity — helping to inspire others to do the same. The Citizen will be honoring Sallard, along with this year’s four other winners, at a party on May 22 at Fitler Club Ballroom. (All are welcome, but you must RSVP in advance here.)
“It was always embedded in me to help.”
After his last arrest in 1999, Sallard made up his mind that he wanted to do something different. While in prison, he says he was mistreated by staff. Rather than turn around and do that to others, he decided he would be guided by how his parents raised him.
“My parents raised me on education, discipline, and respect,” he says. “It was always [instilled] in me to help.”
Sallard entered the social service field in 2003. He earned a degree in substance abuse and addiction counseling from Eastern University in St. David’s and then his MHS (Master of Human Services) from Lincoln University. He joined GVI three years ago after spotting an online job listing for the program. He was hopeful that he could be more productive in helping people get services and employment with GVI. “I don’t want to see someone in a situation where I didn’t want to see myself. I don’t want to ask for help and not get it,” he says.
“I do my best to make myself available as much as I can, even after hours, so they know it’s not just a job, it’s trying to make sure your life is just as good or better than mine.” — Nathan Sallard
He calls coming into the GVI office and working under Director Deion Sumpter (a 2024 Integrity Icon) “one of the best things that ever happened.” As Sumpter puts it, “Give Nate the job and get out of his way.” The former director in the Office of Safe Neighborhoods, which oversees GVI, has known Sallard since September 2022 and calls him “one of the best humans I’ve ever met.” Watching him deal with the highest-risk clients and connecting them to career, education, and housing resources, Sumpter credits Sallard with being one reason violence is down in Philadelphia.
GVI uses an evidence-based approach to reduce gun violence that utilizes data to identify high-risk individuals and groups most likely to commit and/or become victims of violent crimes. The office offers support and help, such as connecting those high-risk people to jobs, training, or a needed city service. The approach was successfully piloted in two neighborhoods under Mayor Nutter. Mayor Kenney made the program permanent in 2021.
Sallard oversees the team of case managers and all social service efforts for his clients. He is particularly committed to children’s safety and welfare and has a reputation for genuinely investing in his clients’ wellbeing and never cutting corners.
It can be hard to maneuver through red tape, so Sallard finds ways to work around barriers in the system and change the process when he sees success can be achieved another way. One of Sallard’s successes is Allen Burrell, who was referred to GVI by his family after he survived a shooting that put 10 bullets in him. Sallard connected Burrell with workforce development programs and a full-time city job.
“I move a lot on my own, but I always rely on the strength and the help of others,” says Sallard.
Terrell Bagby is a Program Administrator at the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. He first met Sallard through the Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services (RISE) in 2015, when the City was receiving a Second Chance Act grant to help fund its efforts to reduce recidivism. Sallard was RISE’s lead on case management and services under the grant. Bagby says of his first impressions, “He appeared to be someone who is genuine in their passion to assist those who have been impacted by the legal system. My thoughts on Nathan were correct: He has been one of the most passionate individuals working with the population.”
“Give Nate the job and get out of his way.” — Deion Sumpter, Gun Violence Intervention (and 2024 Integrity Icon)
Sallard is known for spending 12 to 15 hours a day on the job and uses his own vehicle to transport clients to job interviews and work sites. He answers his phone for clients at all hours, even during meals.
“We’re dealing with people’s lives. Life happens after 5 o’clock, so I can’t shut you off at 5 o’clock, because I know your life is still moving forward,” says Sallard. “I do my best to make myself available as much as I can, even after hours, so they know it’s not just a job, it’s trying to make sure your life is just as good or better than mine.”
“Mr. Sallard does what he says. I’ve been around Mr. Sallard during working hours and outside of working hours, and he is always the same person,” adds Bagby. “His moral compass is in the right direction.”
Sallard’s work with GVI has been transformative. When he was first hired, the retention rate for clients in the program was only 35 percent, meaning that many participants did not remain employed after 90 days. He has dramatically improved this metric to 78 percent, and social service rates increased by 65 percent through his work in the unit.
A Christian and a leader in his church, Sallard’s spirituality informs how he serves those in need. “I keep the statute that you present love to everybody as much as you can,” he says. “I don’t take things personally. When I encounter people in a situation, I try to think about what got them to that point as opposed to what they’re doing now. Something happened in your life to make you be this way, and I want to try to help you get past that.”
Sallard, whose 57th birthday is May 12, now has two adult sons: One is in college in North Carolina, and the other lives in Florida. Echoing his own father’s integrity, he says, “I want my children to look at me and know that it wasn’t a bunch of fluff. I don’t do the work for show. I really want to see everybody succeed.”
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