MPI Chief Training Officer Vanessa Perry Dereef Teaches the Keys to Building High-Impact Teams for CVILA 

The newest cohort of students enrolled in the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA) sat excited and inquisitive as they learned key tactics for “Building and Cultivating High-Impact Teams” within their organizations. The session, led by Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI) Chief Training Officer Dr. Vanessa Perry DeReef, served as the group’s first class together in the program.

Thirty-two community violence intervention (CVI) leaders representing 20 cities from across the country gathered at UCAN headquarters in Homan Square to explore the ways they can implement strategies to empower their teams and strengthen their organizations. This was the instructional kickoff to a five-month program aimed at training the next generation of CVI leaders.

The first exercise of the day involved a check-in where students described how they were feeling and revealed facts about themselves. This not only showed the group how they can engage members of their respective organizations, but also allowed individuals of this newly-formed cohort to bond.

“When building a community, it helps to check in with individuals so we’ll know as facilitators and as leaders how we’ll proceed,” Dr. Perry said.

“When you build a team, you may look for talent. But when you cultivate a team, you plant seeds. You are a surveyor. You water those seeds. You are a nurturer. You put them in the position to excel when you cultivate teams.”

Dr. Perry also discussed the importance of establishing norms, which serve as shared agreements among a team or organization. Different from rules, norms are decided upon collaboratively and are meant to be flexible. What might work for one group might not work for the next, and it’s important to determine best practices for your desired outcome.

“Norms represent the voice of the group. As the leader, when you’re building and cultivating this team, you are responsible for garnering the voice of the group. You’re supposed to know how the people are feeling,” Dr. Perry said. While an organization or company’s bottom line is a top priority, she drove home the point that people are at the center of the work and there is a larger mission at play.

Tony Woods, Executive Director at Public Equity and a current student of the CVILA, said the day’s lessons and those to be learned from the program are motivating him to be a better leader.

“I want to gain a diverse understanding of how to lead. I think sometimes we get locked in our own way of doing things and I think that’s the beauty of this Leadership Academy. It’s a diverse group of people from all over the country that I can learn from.”

MPI Field Manager Charles Decuire echoed the same sentiments of his classmate, stating that he’s also looking forward to “learning the back office work, the funding sources, how to build [MPI’s] programs, and how to be a better leader.”

​​The CVILA curriculum focuses on providing training in violence reduction, program management, staff retention, data literacy, evaluation, and more. In addition to a stop in Chicago, the cohort will also visit New York and Oakland for immersive experiences.

For more information on the CVILA, visit the official page here.