LISTEN: MPI Executive Director Vaughn Bryant Talks CVI Funding with WBEZ

On Tuesday, July 22, 2025, Metropolitan Peace Initiatives Executive Director Vaughn Bryant joined WBEZ’s Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons to discuss Community Violence Intervention (CVI), alongside the City of Chicago’s Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood and Michael Harris, an outreach worker with the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago (INVC). They were also joined by Katie Hill, Executive Director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, who provided insights on the work.

Together, panelists discussed the progress the city has made so far on reducing gun violence, in addition to illustrating the challenges of losing federal funding.

“We’re trying to build up a workforce that is critical to public safety – so when funding is cut, it hurts the foundation of the civilian infrastructure,” Bryant said. “One of the grants that we lost was for capacity building. The more organizations that we have in our hardest hit communities, the better off we are. To have that momentum disrupted was a shock to the system.”

Despite the funding challenges and a spate of mass shootings over the Fourth of July weekend, panelists remained optimistic that the trend of fewer shootings overall will continue with CVI efforts.

When asked if the City of Chicago was committed to funding CVI efforts in the upcoming budget cycle, Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood replied, “We have to. When you look at these results and the lives that are being saved, we have to fund whatever mechanisms necessary. The ultimate goal is to be the safest and most affordable big city in the country.”

Listen to the entire episode here.