Community Violence Intervention (CVI) uses multidisciplinary strategies to engage individuals and groups to prevent and disrupt cycles of violence and retaliation. It establishes relationships between individuals and community assets to deliver services that save lives, address trauma, provide opportunity, and improve physical, social, and economic conditions to prevent violence.

City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) is committed to serving adult learners aged 25 or older, or ages 18-24 with adult responsibilities such as parenthood, full-time work, or military service. The 2021 - 2025 Strategic Framework includes a vision to be recognized as the city’s most accessible higher education engine of socioeconomic mobility and racial equity.

Challenge: The public sector alone cannot address the interconnected root causes of violence. The business community has a significant stake in making the region a safe place to live, work and do business, but has largely been missing from the conversation. In fall 2022, the Civic Committee convened the Public Safety Task Force to identify strategies for the business community to contribute to improving public safety in Chicago.

Action: Alongside pro bono partner BCG, Civic Consulting Alliance supported the design, launch, and initial work for the Task Force. This included engaging in a seven-month fact-finding process that included interviews with numerous elected officials, community organizations, academic experts, philanthropy, and law enforcement. With pro bono support from Lantern Partners, we also facilitated the recruitment of the Civic Committee’s first Vice President for Public Safety, a new position that provides strategic leadership and daily management for the organization’s public safety agenda and initiatives.

Result: In June, the Civic Committee publicly announced five commitments that it believes will organize the business community to make the most significant contribution to address both short-term acute issues and long-term root causes of gun violence. Bob Boik, formerly of the Chicago Police Department, was hired as the Vice President for Public Safety to carry out the implementation of the Task Force’s initiatives. Since this announcement, the Civic Committee’s public safety strategy has been received positively. For example, the Chicago Tribune editorial, “Curbing violent crime is an all-hands-on-deck task. That must include corporate Chicago” is complimentary of the work that Civic Consulting Alliance completed, stating, “There’s good reason to feel optimistic about the Civic Committee’s new mission. To begin with, the group’s game plan makes sense.”

Partners: BCG, Lantern Partners

Since March 2021, Civic Consulting Alliance and our partners have committed significant resources to support the City and the County in planning for effective investment of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to maximize their impact on the issues most critical to our region’s future. In recent months, our collaborative focus has transitioned to turning these plans into action.