Violence Intervention Leadership Academy Graduates First Class
The Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA) recently held a graduation ceremony at the White House for its first cohort of community violence intervention (CVI) leaders. An initiative of the University of Chicago Crime Lab and supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the program’s inaugural cohort of 31 leaders included participants from 21 cities across the United States — including Casey civic sites Atlanta and Baltimore.
“The CVILA gives leaders on the frontlines of CVI programs the resources, training and support they need to do their best work,” says Timmeka Perkins, a community safety expert and senior associate with the Foundation’s National Community Strategies portfolio.
Supporting Local Leaders in Violence Intervention
The courses were led by professors from the University of Chicago, visiting educators from other academic institutions, community violence intervention practitioners and leadership professionals.
During the six-month program, CVILA cohort members studied topics that included:
- personal and organizational leadership;
- strategic decision making;
- trauma and resiliency; and
- strategies for building a community violence intervention “ecosystem.”
“These leaders leave the Academy with new skills, strategies and, most importantly, a peer network that they can utilize as they dismantle the cycles of violence locally,” Perkins notes. “Ultimately, this is a program that’s focused on creating a sustainable, effective workforce of community violence interveners.”
Developing Gun Violence Reduction Strategies
Each cohort member designed a capstone project related to the development of a gun violence reduction program or innovation. Each project was created with feedback from a team of advisors, and students defended their work before a panel to complete the program.
An “innovation fund” created by the University of Chicago and the Casey Foundation granted eight exceptional projects seed funding for additional consultation, implementation or evaluation:
- GID University is a workforce development program designed by Rasheedat Fetuga (Nashville, TN). It equips north Nashville youth most at risk for gun violence involvement with the skills to lead public safety change, gun violence prevention and community transformation.
- Voices of Power, an initiative founded by De’Angelo Harris-Rosa (Philadelphia, PA), advances public education and discourse around CVI. It includes a radio show and streaming video podcast with leaders in the field.
- The Red Light Initiative, a transformative justice framework developed by Jovan Davis (Washington, D.C.), addresses the root causes of the emotional pain that can lead to gun violence.
- 4 Social Peace is an initiative founded by Patrick Young (New Orleans, LA). It develops interventions that dismantle aggression and foster a positive online environment through a comprehensive and integrated digital community violence intervention strategy.
- CTVIP Multi-Tiered Data Management System, a performance monitoring tool developed by Alivia Langley (New Haven, CT), tracks resource utilization and participant outcomes.
- CHVPS Employee Mental Health & Wellness Policy, a framework created by Guadalupe Washington (Harris Co., TX), promotes a positive environment that supports mental health and well-being for community health and violence prevention staff and those they serve.
- SWOT Analysis of UCAN Chicago’s Violence Intervention and Preventionis a community-based violence intervention and prevention program created by Edwin Galletti (Chicago, IL). It reduces individual youth participation in crime and violence, addresses trauma, improves academic engagement and success and meets youth development needs through coaching and mediation.
- Operation RESPOND Expansion is a mobile crisis management intervention unit built by Dante Johnson (Baltimore, MD). It targets individuals and families who are impacted by gun violence and provides them with support services and workforce development opportunities. Johnson also served as the graduation’s student commencement speaker.
Johnson, director of community safety initiatives for the Living Classrooms Foundation, praised the program’s focus on business planning, risk management and budgeting as particularly helpful to his development as a leader.
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