A press conference held on Thursday, April 17, 2025 at the Pullman Community Center welcomed Governor J.B. Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson, state and city elected officials, and over 200 Community Violence Intervention (CVI) professionals across Chicago.

On Thursday, April 10, Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) awarded Metropolitan Peace Initiatives Executive Director Vaughn Bryant with the Civic Catalyst Award for his work with the Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago (SC2) initiative, which aims to bring together community stakeholders to help reduce gun violence across Chicago.

Congratulations to Edwin Galletti, UCAN Chicago Vice President of Violence Intervention & Prevention Services, who has been appointed to the Violent Crimes Advisory Commission, representing the Illinois Attorney General’s office.

Sustained funding for Community Violence Intervention (CVI) was on the agenda at a series of House and Senate Public Safety and Infrastructure Appropriations Committee hearings on Wednesday, April 9 in Springfield.

Community Violence Intervention (CVI) leaders and community members: make your voice heard and join our Legislative Action Day on May 13, 2025 in Springfield, IL.

Join us on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at Maggiano’s Banquets (111 W Grand Ave) to hear a panel discussion about how Community Violence Intervention (CVI) professionals and the Chicago Police Department are working together to reduce gun violence in Chicago’s highest risk neighborhoods.

A simple observation led Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) Outreach Worker Yulissa Olvera to create one of SWOP’s vital programs.

Job-seeking community members connected with partnering organizations and employers at a career fair hosted at the Metropolitan Peace Academy (MPA) on Friday, April 4, 2025.

Women’s History Month might be over, but remember to celebrate the women who work in community violence intervention year-round.

Join us on April 24, 2025 at 5 p.m. at Northwestern University’s downtown Chicago campus (303 E Superior St) for a timely panel discussion on community violence intervention and the ways in which Northwestern’s Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science (CORNERS) is working with partners to help reduce gun violence.

This past Saturday, March 29, the Crisis Prevention & Response Unit (CPRU) team attended the 2025 Teen Bash, a free event in collaboration with the City of Chicago and My Chi, My Future.

The Metropolitan Peace Academy Management and Supervision Fellowship recently came to a close, marking the end of a six-month journey dedicated to strengthening leadership in community violence intervention. The fellowship culminated in a heartfelt dinner and celebration at the Metropolitan Peace Academy (MPA).

The Crisis Prevention and Response Unit (CPRU) team at Metropolitan Peace Initiatives joined a “Hands On Chicago” community event on Friday, March 21.

Don’t miss the next CVI Hiring Event at the Metropolitan Peace Academy on Friday, April 4, from 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Congratulations to Institute for Nonviolence Chicago (INVC) participant Johannis White (and Case Management Supervisor Latasha Henry) for completing the 14-week prep course from St. Augustine College at Lewis University and earning his high school diploma.

The Giffords Center for Violence Intervention recently hosted a webinar on Thursday, March 20, 2025, where top practitioners and leaders in the field of community violence intervention (CVI) in Chicago and Los Angeles shared crucial insights to strengthening and sustaining CVI efforts across the nation for years to come.

Traci Hall, Clinical Program Supervisor at Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), says, “Society has deemed us as nurturing.” But to do the work, Traci says “you gotta be a bad-ass, honestly.”

Metropolitan Peace Initiatives Director of Field Instruction Steve Perkins joins Elvis Ortega from the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety on the most recent episode of Chicago Department of Public Health’s Healthy Chicago podcast.

Friends of Children Chicago hosted a virtual panel on Tuesday, March 18, where panelists explored how outreach and engagement can help support individuals impacted by disinvestment and systemic racism.

The North Lawndale Collaborative (NLC) hosted a Safer Community Meeting on Monday, March 17, 2025, at UCAN Chicago’s headquarters, where residents and leaders in the field of community violence intervention (CVI) came together to create strategies for improving community safety.

Community violence intervention (CVI) programs have the power to save and change lives for participants, and sometimes, those participants become empowered enough to turn around and provide that same advocacy for others. This much is true for Cynthia Leal, Victim Advocate for New Life Centers in Chicago’s Little Village.

Ever wonder how the Metropolitan Peace Academy’s “1, 2, 3, BOOM!” rallying cry came to be? Let Dr. Vanessa Perry DeReef, Chief Training Officer at Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, give you a history lesson.

CVI is sustained not only by the outreach professionals who interrupt and respond to violence, but also by those who train, educate, and support them. For Tina Cooper, Director of Training at Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), it’s the women in the field who sustain her.

As a woman with nearly ten years of outreach experience, Nyedra Turner has a special vantage point into the value and needs of women in the field. She sees women as vital to community violence intervention.

A new report from Northwestern University’s Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science (CORNERS) is highlighting the impact of Illinois’ Peacekeepers Program, which originally launched in Chicago in 2018. 

Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), Communities Partnering 4 Peace, and Chicago CRED came together for an Advocacy Training Day on February 24, 2025.

Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) recently partnered with Crain’s Chicago Business to launch a seven-part series highlighting the organization’s 40-year history of empowering leaders in addressing socioeconomic challenges across the city.

Leadership representing Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI) and Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) made the journey downstate to Springfield on Tuesday, February 18 for a special community violence intervention (CVI) legislative dinner with a group of elected officials. All had one singular goal in mind: to advocate for and preserve CP4P funding for fiscal year 2026.

In a recent blog post for Harvard Business School’s Social Enterprise Initiative, Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI) Executive Director Vaughn Bryant reflected on his experience attending the Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM) Executive Education program. He also detailed the lessons he’s bringing back to MPI to help further its mission of reducing gun violence across Chicago.