At a time of intense national concern and debate about gun violence in our cities, Milwaukee-area leaders are coming together to explore additional steps that could be taken in their city to address the issue. Bader Philanthropies, the Joyce Foundation and the Joint Center on Political and Economic Studies will host a diverse group of community leaders and stakeholders Aug. 4 to review strategies for improving cross-sector collaboration and reducing gun violence in Milwaukee
“We are all about providing information and engaging the various stakeholders to figure out how we can improve things,” Bill Strong, communications director of the Joyce Foundation, tells Madison365. “There are already some great things going on in Milwaukee already, but we hope to spark even more ideas. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to address these issues.”
Milwaukee-area faith leaders, elected officials, law enforcement and criminal justice officials, anti-violence advocates, social service providers and charitable organizations will all have a presence at the event at Bader Philanthropies, Inc., 233 North Water Street. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, District Attorney John Chisholm, Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern; Reggie Moore, Office of Violence Prevention; Daniel Bader, president, Bader Philanthropies; Rev. Willy Brisco, MICAH; Wanda Montgomery, board member, Black Child Development Center; and Assistant Police Chief James Harpole are expected to be among the 45-50 people in attendance.
Nina Vinik, program director of The Joyce Foundation, will present data from a National Survey of Communities of Color on Gun Violence, Policing and Mass Incarceration. Mallory O’Brien, director of the Milwaukee Homicide Review will present the latest data on gun violence in Milwaukee.
There will be a resentation and discussion of policy roadmap and public opinion research developed by “Engaging Communities,” a project of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Urban Institute, and the Joyce Foundation. “We started this project a little over a year ago at a meeting in Washington D.C.,” Strong says. “People were just grappling with police/community issues and they could not remove gun violence from the equation.”
The project explores issues and solutions at the intersection of gun violence, policing and mass incarceration. The upcoming Milwaukee strategy session will include a presentation of the findings, drawn from community dialogues last fall in Milwaukee, Richmond, VA and Stockton, CA, and input from Milwaukee stakeholders on the report’s recommendations.
“Since the original findings have been announced in April, we have been going about the business of ensuring that the information is shared widely,” Strong says. “We had someone from our program speak about this at the national NAACP conference in Cincinnati, we had someone at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement. We’ve been doing a lot of outreach.”
Nearly 100,000 Americans are killed or injured in gun violence every year. This inflicts a heavy toll on families and communities. The Joyce Foundation works with law enforcement, policy makers, and advocates to develop common sense gun violence reduction and prevention policies that keep our communities safe.
“The Joyce Foundation is fundamentally about making grants to include quality of life, to promote community vitality, and to strive for a fair society,” Strong says. “Our grant-making is primarily focused on six Great Lake states – Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. We are a policy foundation so what we are about is advancing policy ideas and reforms at a high level.”
Gun violence is a multifaceted challenge that demands a holistic set of solutions. Strong says that the Joyce Foundation is happy to partner with Bader Philanthropies and the Joint Center on Political and Economic Studies to host this event.
“It will be a very interesting day. We want to share what we’ve learned,” Strong says. “We will have some great presentations and then some smaller working sessions to discuss various aspects and topics. We’re expecting about 50 people to be at the event. We’re looking forward to it.”
