Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy Steering Committee and Curriculum Developers

Dr. Shani Buggs is an Assistant Professor for the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California Davis and a health and public policy scholar with expertise in community-driven violence intervention and prevention efforts.

Dr. Antonio Cediel is the Special Advisor for Live Free USA, where he leads community violence intervention efforts and supports the network’s Latino church organizing, and the CEO of First Revolution Consulting.

Erica Ford is credited with reimagining effective pathways to public safety in inner-city communities. She is the Co-Founder and former CEO of LIFE Camp, Inc.; Lead Creator of NYC Crisis Management System; Co-Chair of the National Black & Brown Peace Coalition; and Co-Founder of Kush & Kemet.

Amber is the Founder of the Community Justice Action Fund (CJAF) and the Community Justice Reform Coalition (CJRC). CJAF is a national gun violence prevention organization working on policy, education, leadership development, and building resources centered on communities of color.

Marcus McAllister is a national violence prevention expert, speaker, and consultant. He is also the Dean of Students of the UChicago Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy.

Pastor Michael McBride is the Executive Director of Live Free USA, a Square One Fellow at Columbia University Justice Policy Lab, the Co-Founder of Black Church PAC and the Black Brown Peace Consortium, and serves as the Lead Pastor of The Way Church in Berkeley, CA.

Oresa Napper-Williams is the Founder and Executive Director of Not Another Child, Inc., an organization that provides unconventional therapeutic support and advocates for families and communities directly impacted by gun violence.

Anthony Smith is the Executive Director of Cities United and is an organizer, a bridge builder, a believer in community, and a thought leader.

Dr. Chico Tillmon is the Executive Director of the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy and a leading national consultant and training and technical assistance provider on violence prevention, reentry, and nonprofits.

Dr. Kathryn Bocanegra is an Assistant Professor at Jane Addams College of Social Work at University of Illinois Chicago. She is a licensed clinical social worker and also serves as Senior Advisor to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on crime victim and violence prevention issues.

Dr. Julian Thompson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His work spans several domains of research, including reentry, alternatives to incarceration and community mental health, criminalization of survivors, violence intervention, the politics of harm, and abolitionist praxis.