WASHINGTON — On the heels of multiple young people being shot in the District, local, federal, and out-of-state community leaders are coming together to talk solutions Tuesday.
Peace for DC, the Federal City Council, and the Greater Washington Community Foundation are hosting a three-hour forum at Howard University Tuesday afternoon.
These are the listed speakers and schedule:
- Roger Marmet, Peace For DC
- Tonia Wellons, Greater Washington Community Foundation
- Mayor Anthony Williams, Federal City Council
● 1st panel - What is DC doing well and what are we missing:
- Moderator: Candice Jones, Public Welfare Foundation
- Panelist - Tony Lewis Jr., Community Leader
- Panelist - Thomas Penny, Donohoe Hospitality
- Panelist - Kristy Love, Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
- Panelist - Pastor Gholston, Peace Fellowship Church
● 2nd panel - Strategic planning, understanding the data, implementing best practices:
- Moderator: Marcus Ellis, Peace For DC
- Arne Duncan, Chicago CRED (and former U.S. Secretary of Education
- Jocelyn Fontaine, Urban Institute & Executive Director of the Black and Brown Collective for Community Solutions to Gun Violence
- Greg Jackson, White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention
- David Muhammad, National Institute for Criminal Justice
"[We are] gathering those in our business community, in our philanthropic foundation community who are interested in learning more about what community violence interruption is," Peace for DC Executive Director, Marcus Ellis said. "We are providing an opportunity to bring in subject matter experts that are from across the nation along with a panel of local experts that are going to really provide a framework for for what has worked in other cities that have seen significant reductions in community gun violence, but also to provide a different context on what we're seeing here in the District of Columbia."
Ellis said some of the cities that have seen sustained decreases in gun violence are Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
Part of their success has been through civic coalitions -- or groups of businesses and community groups who join forces to attack violence in their cities at all levels.
“A part of this conversation will be to see who's interested in being a part of such a coalition here in the District of Columbia," Ellis said. "We have an understanding that while government absolutely has a role in what violence prevention looks like, we also have a role within our business districts in terms of becoming partners in this work and understanding that this isn't something that the government will be able to do alone. We're going to need an entire ecosystem to assist with this problem.”
Part of the forum will focus on evidence-based components of DC's published Violence Reduction Strategic Plan as panelists discuss a public health approach to combatting gun violence.
“When we think about violent crime, it impacts us all in one way or another. And that doesn't necessarily mean that it's happening next door to you. But is it impacting your bottom line? Is it causing you to have thoughts about relocating your particular business?" Ellis said. "And so we want that table to be full with people who not just care about the issue from a moral standpoint, which is important, but also are impacted in terms of what their day to day business may look like. And so that's really what that table is, it's one that brings together all entities to be a part of the ecosystem we're looking for.”
The forum will be at Howard University's Blackburn Auditorium from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Ellis said they're expecting between 100 and 150 people.
Registration is closed for this event, but Ellis said this is just the beginning of an ongoing conversation with community stakeholders.