Friends & Partners,
What a journey we’ve been on to advance the core domains of the CVI Action Plan! In 2024, the Community-Based Public Safety Collective, Community Justice, the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, and Urban Peace Institute released the Action Plan as a strategic framework for reducing violence in Black and Brown communities and building a solid community violence intervention (CVI) infrastructure nationwide. Since the start of 2025, we’ve accomplished so much.
In 2026 alone, we hosted a series of six webinars, gathered CVI leaders in Tucson and Atlanta for important listening sessions, and concluded in-person convenings with a powerful policy advocacy event in Chicago. Last year, we brought together frontline CVI practitioners along with funders, government leaders, researchers, and other supporters for convenings in Miami, Los Angeles, and Newark.
The CVI Action Plan work could not have been more timely. While the Action Plan was published at a moment when the CVI field was experiencing an influx of investment and support, we quickly had to grapple with threats to our hard-won progress. Federal funding cuts last April sought to destabilize the momentum of community-led safety, but we persevered. With support from several philanthropic foundations, we engaged folks from 35 states and Washington, D.C. to unify CVI efforts, demonstrate lifesaving impact, and strategize on a path forward for the field.
The CVI Action Plan Committee comprises leaders from the five coordinating organizations, but this work wouldn’t have been possible without Eddie Bocanegra taking on the National Project Manager role. As a team, our goal was to center the voices and expertise of frontline practitioners to ensure that as the CVI field expands the work remains grounded in its roots of being led by and for Black and Brown communities.
If you’re reading this, it’s because you’re an essential part of this growing community—thank you! This summer, we’re excited to release a report that will dive deep into our key takeaways from the various events and make recommendations to continue to elevate the CVI field nationally. In the meantime, you can read other CVI Action Plan reports and watch the webinar series here.
With immense gratitude,
Eddie Bocanegra, Fernando Rejón, José Alfaro, Toni Rivera, Kyndra Simmons, Aqeela Sherrills, and David Muhammad
The CVI Action Plan Committee
Community Justice, Community-Based Public Safety Collective, the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, Urban Peace Institute