Our team.

FOUNDER

TJ's life is a testament to resilience and transformation. After enduring a turbulent upbringing filled with abuse and bullying, TJ was expelled from school and homeless by the age of 15, drawn into a life of crime and violence. His story is one of survival, having lived through gang involvement, addiction, and brushes with death, including multiple stabbings and a near-fatal drive-by shooting. At his lowest point, facing a 10-year prison sentence and an unsuccessful suicide attempt, TJ made the decision to turn his life around.

Today, TJ is a leader at Gloves Not Guns where he developed the impactful program for at-risk youth in Calgary, successfully steering them away from criminality and gang involvement. In partnership with law enforcement, corrections, academia, and various nonprofits, TJ’s work has reached 75 youth in just nine months, with particular success in connecting with marginalized groups such as the homeless, addicts, and incarcerated individuals.

Through his leadership, TJ is not only a role model for those overcoming adversity but also a driving force behind efforts to heal and uplift his community. His goal is to help young people avoid the dangerous paths he once walked and become the best versions of themselves.

PROGRAM FACILITATOR

Kale Barr is a Canadian artist and poet from Calgary, Alberta, whose work delves deeply into themes of pain, resilience, and transformation. His raw, unapologetic creations reflect a life shaped by violence, loss, and self-discovery.

A former hockey enforcer, Kale’s career abruptly ended after a severe knee injury, leaving him vulnerable to destructive influences. By 19, he was entrenched in the criminal world, selling drugs and using his imposing 6-foot-3 frame to enforce gang rules. Violence became routine until an assault charge in 2016 forced him to sever ties with his gang and begin rebuilding his life.

Kale’s journey of healing began with painting and poetry, which allowed him to process his trauma and rediscover his identity. His art, now displayed internationally in Germany, Poland, and Miami, transforms his pain into powerful storytelling and has connected with audiences worldwide.

Today, Kale is channeling his experiences to help others by working with Gloves Not Guns, a boxing mentorship program dedicated to steering at-risk youth away from gangs, drugs, and violence. Through mentorship, fitness, and his own life story, Kale provides young people with the guidance and hope needed to create a better future.

Kale Barr’s art and advocacy stand as a powerful testament to the strength of redemption and the ability to turn hardship into purpose.

MENTOR | SPEAKER

Sajid Khandoker’s story is one of resilience, redemption, and purpose. Born into a household plagued by violence and instability, Sajid endured years of physical abuse at the hands of his father. At just 14, the weight of his reality pushed him to the brink, which led him to attempt to take his own life. Two years later, his father was charged with assault with a weapon against his mother and brother, leaving his family in poverty and insecurity.

By 16, Sajid found himself on a path of destruction, ending in his June 2022 arrest where he was remanded on the charges of counsel to commit murder, possession of a firearm, possession of a deadly weapon, and assault with a weapon. Facing life in prison if convicted as an adult, Sajid had made it his goal to change his life. He decided to work on himself, graduate High School and become a pillar of what can be done while incarcerated. Through his strides he had made a positive change inside of the custodial facilities he was in, he ended up getting early release from custody after serving only two years behind bars. He was one of the first youth out of thousands to be granted early release in Alberta. 

His turning point came when he met TJ from Gloves Not Guns. TJ saw something in him that others overlooked—a fighter, not just in the ring but in life. Through mentorship, discipline, and self-reflection, Sajid found a new purpose: to give others the hope he once thought was impossible. Before meeting TJ, Sajid was constantly causing a ruckus in custody, and not really knowing who he really was. Afterwards, Sajid had understood that he could be better, not only for himself but for those who had trusted in him. Sajid had since graduated into becoming a speaker for Gloves not Guns.  

As a 19-year-old second generation immigrant, Sajid is able to relate with youth on a level that is rarely seen in his field. He is able to relate to the problems that youth feel like are only confined to minorities or people in their adolescent years of life. As someone who has seen first-hand the issues that visible-minorities can face in life, he understands what a lot of these youth are going through, and he does everything he can to help. 

Today, Sajid attends University of Calgary and is hoping to complete a degree in Psychology. When he isn't studying for midterms, Sajid is a public speaker with a mission to reach those who feel unheard, unloved, and trapped in cycles of violence. He uses his past not as a burden but as a tool to connect with at-risk youth, showing them that change is possible, no matter how far gone they feel. 

His message is simple: if he can turn his life around, so can they. Through storytelling, mentorship, and raw honesty, Sajid is dedicated to breaking the cycle—one conversation at a time.