Adzi Vokhiwa
Vice President of Policy, Community Justice Action Fund
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Adzi Vokhiwa is senior policy expert and advocate currently serving as the Vice President of Policy for the Community Justice Action Fund (Community Justice), an organization focused on ending gun violence by investing in Black and Brown communities.She was appointed to Community Justice's leadership team in July 2024 to oversee the organization's policy and legislative strategy. Prior to joining Community Justice, she served as the Federal Affairs Director at GIFFORDS, where she led federal legislative strategy for the gun violence prevention organization.
Amber Goodwin
Co-Founder, Community Violence Legal Network
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Amber Goodwin is the co-founder of the Community Violence Legal Network (CVLN) and an Assistant District Attorney in Travis County, Texas, where she oversees gun violence policy and as liaison to Austin’s Office of Violence Prevention. A nationally recognized strategist and advocate, Amber has over two decades of experience at the intersection of racial justice, movement building, and public policy.She is the founding director of the Community Justice Action Fund, a Black and Brown-led gun violence prevention organization, where under her leadership (2016–2021), over $1.9 billion in state and local funding was directed toward community violence intervention (CVI) programs. Her federal advocacy helped shift $12 billion in grant priorities across five agencies, and she testified in the first-ever House Judiciary hearing on urban gun violence in 2019. She also served on the Biden-Harris Transition Team as lead organizer for gun violence prevention.
Amber previously held senior roles at Giffords, Enroll America, and multiple national campaigns. She is also an adjunct law professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and a former chair of the Austin Gun Violence Task Force, where she helped launch and fund the city’s first Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Recognized by Essence, The Root, and The Washingtonian, Amber’s work has been featured in Vogue, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, and The Grio.
Dr. Anthony D. Douglas II, MD
University of Chicago, Surgeon Resident
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Dr. Anthony D. Douglas II, MD is a General Surgery Resident at the University of Chicago, a public health expert, and dedicated advocate for health equity. He created the nation’s first Surgical Advocacy Fellowship, a curriculum designed to equip surgeons early in their careers to serve as change agents in addressing health disparities. He has led state and national advocacy efforts to lower prescription drug costs, including testifying before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Currently, he leads the coalition behind Illinois’ proposed HB3320/SB2279, the Responsibility in Firearm Legislation Act, which seeks to tie firearm manufacturers profit to the outcomes of their products in Illinois communities. Dr. Douglas’s leadership has been recognized through numerous honors, including the Emerging Public Health Leader Award from the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, induction into Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha honor societies, and membership in the prestigious, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. A published author and frequent speaker, he brings a unique perspective at the intersection of medicine, policy, and social justice.At the core of Freedom’s practice is a deeply held belief: Black and Brown communities hold the power to heal, restore, and transform themselves. Her work is dedicated to confronting systemic injustice while creating spaces for collective healing, cultural reclamation, and self-determined solutions. Through every program, training, and partnership, she uplifts the dignity, brilliance, and leadership of those most impacted by inequity.
Freedom is deeply skilled in building transformative partnerships locally and nationally. From Baltimore to cities across the U.S., she has formed lasting collaborations with grassroots leaders, hospitals, city agencies, researchers, and credible messengers to design intervention models that are responsive, sustainable, and centered in community wisdom. A graduate of the inaugural cohort of the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, Freedom has received The Daily Record’s Health Care Heroes Award and the Nelson L. Kellogg Award for social impact and visionary leadership. Most recently, she was honored as an Ad Council Champion for Good.
Through Street Pause Inc., Freedom developed one of the country’s first grassroots digital violence response models, designed to intervene at the source online, where many modern conflicts begin. The organization mobilizes digital responders to interrupt digital escalation, support high risk youth, and cultivate safer online ecosystems grounded in community care. In addition to her national consulting and program development work, Freedom is an acclaimed metal sculptor, creating welded works from steel, glass, and wood that explore themes of memory, liberation, and inner transformation. Her art has been featured in exhibitions across the Mid-Atlantic and remains a spiritual extension of her healing work.
At the core of Freedom’s practice is a deeply held belief: Black and Brown communities hold the power to heal, restore, and transform themselves. Her work is dedicated to confronting systemic injustice while creating spaces for collective healing, cultural reclamation, and self-determined solutions. Through every program, training, and partnership, she uplifts the dignity, brilliance, and leadership of those most impacted by inequity.
Freedom is deeply skilled in building transformative partnerships locally and nationally. From Baltimore to cities across the U.S., she has formed lasting collaborations with grassroots leaders, hospitals, city agencies, researchers, and credible messengers to design intervention models that are responsive, sustainable, and centered in community wisdom. A graduate of the inaugural cohort of the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, Freedom has received The Daily Record’s Health Care Heroes Award and the Nelson L. Kellogg Award for social impact and visionary leadership. Most recently, she was honored as an Ad Council Champion for Good.
Through Street Pause Inc., Freedom developed one of the country’s first grassroots digital violence response models, designed to intervene at the source online, where many modern conflicts begin. The organization mobilizes digital responders to interrupt digital escalation, support high risk youth, and cultivate safer online ecosystems grounded in community care. In addition to her national consulting and program development work, Freedom is an acclaimed metal sculptor, creating welded works from steel, glass, and wood that explore themes of memory, liberation, and inner transformation. Her art has been featured in exhibitions across the Mid-Atlantic and remains a spiritual extension of her healing work.
Ben Needham
Executive Leader, Community Engagement & Institutional Accountability
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Ben Needham is a national executive leader with more than 20 years of experience designing and leading integrated community engagement, organizing, membership, and institutional accountability strategies at leading civil rights and democracy organizations. He has served as a trusted advisor to CEOs, Presidents, and Boards, with a proven record of translating community-defined priorities into durable systems change, organizational growth, and measurable impact.
Most recently, Ben founded Needham Strategies, a national advisory firm supporting democracy, civil rights, and community-based organizations in strengthening program integration, coalition governance, and membership lifecycle strategies. In this role, he partners directly with executive leadership and Boards to redesign organizational systems that elevate community voice, build staff capacity, and align program strategy with fundraising, accountability, and long-term sustainability.
Previously, Ben served as Deputy Political Director at the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was a senior executive leader within the National Political Advocacy Department. He advised executive leadership on national democracy, voting rights, and civic engagement strategy and led cross-departmental integration of organizing, policy, communications, and partnerships across a complex national organization. He also managed senior staff, represented the ACLU externally with funders and coalition partners, and supported alignment between program strategy and development priorities.
Ben spent over six years at the Human Rights Campaign, including as Director of Strategic Initiatives, where he served as a senior advisor to the President and Board of Directors. He designed and governed national organizing, advocacy, and membership strategies across policy and political portfolios and created HRC Rising, the largest grassroots organizing expansion in the organization’s history. He oversaw PAC and Super PAC strategy, managed more than $13 million in program budgets, and represented the organization publicly with elected officials, corporate leaders, donors, and at national convenings.
Earlier in his career, Ben held senior leadership roles at AFSCME, managing multi-state legislative and electoral campaigns across the South and West, and at other national advocacy organizations focused on public health and civic engagement. Across his career, he has built and led high-performing teams, overseen complex budgets and systems, partnered closely with development teams on programmatic fundraising, and advanced equity-centered decision-making grounded in the needs of low- and moderate-income communities and communities of color.
Ben holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Mississippi State University.
Bis Dhar
Managing Director, BDO’s Accounting Advisory & Outsourcing
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Bis Dhar is a Managing Director and one of the nonprofit leaders in BDO’s Accounting Advisory & Outsourcing (AAO) group. As Managing Director, Bis specializes in the nonprofit industry (Associations, charitable, educational, religious organizations, social welfare organizations, charter schools, and foundations). He and his team provide outsourced accounting, financial, and advisory services. They provide support to the leadership team of nonprofit organizations, including helping with their strategic planning and execution. He draws on deep industry experience to become a trusted advisor to the executive team. He provides clear, simplified options, which inform client decisions in meeting current needs and achieving long-term goals.
Bis has over 35 years of Finance & Accounting experience, working with BDO since 2005. He serves as an outsourced CFO to several nonprofit clients in the Washington metro area and has provided audit, accounting, and other consulting services in the past. He has prior audit experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Bis received his Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Finance from St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta, India and is a member of the Advisory Board for Accounting at Elon University in North Carolina.
Christian Gant
Assistant Attorney General, Maryland Office of the Attorney General
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Christian Gant was born in Baltimore and raised in St. Mary’s County, MD, by his grandparents from the age of two weeks. A proud graduate of Bowie State University on a full academic scholarship, Christian was actively involved in the Honors Society, Circle K International, and the Student Government Association, and is a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Driven by a lifelong dream of becoming an attorney, Christian earned his law degree from Emory University School of Law
Christian has built a career dedicated to supporting mission-driven organizations and advocating for justice. In 2016, he co-founded The Initiative: Baltimore, Inc., a youth development nonprofit that inspires young men to become community leaders through civic engagement, volunteerism, and leadership development. Continuing his commitment to mentorship, he also served as a chapter advisor to the collegiate chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at his alma mater,.
In 2023, Christian’s path led him to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, where he spearheaded the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC). Guided by the principles of equity and fairness, the MEJC developed 18 evidence-based reforms to reduce mass incarceration and uplift marginalized communities
Dujuan “Zoe” Kennedy
Executive Director, Force Detroit
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DuJuan “Zoe” Kennedy is the Executive Director of FORCE Detroit and a nationally recognized leader in Community Violence Intervention (CVI) strategy, governance, and field infrastructure development. Based in Detroit, Zoe has built cross-neighborhood intervention models that center frontline leadership, trust, and structured implementation as essential public safety assets. His work integrates street outreach, hospital-based response, policy advocacy, and professionalization systems into coordinated citywide strategies aligned with mayoral offices and Offices of Violence Prevention.
Zoe is the co-founder of the Emerging Leaders National Network (ELNN), a qualification-based national operating system designed to move CVI from fragmented practice to protected public investment. Through ELNN, he advances standardized governance models, chapter qualification systems, policy alignment, and multi-state coalition coordination.
Throughout his leadership, Zoe has navigated significant public milestones — including high-profile media coverage, thought leadership features, and legal challenges that tested and ultimately strengthened organizational accountability and field standards. He has remained steadfast in advocating for community-based safety models grounded in transparency, discipline, and measurable impact.
A graduate of the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s CVI Leadership Academy, Zoe combines lived experience credibility with systems-level strategy. He continues to position Detroit as a model for sustainable, community-rooted safety infrastructure that protects neighborhoods while strengthening economic and civic vitality.
Fatimah Loren Dreier
Executive Director, KP GVRE | Executive Director, HAVI
Baltimore, MD
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Fatimah Loren Dreier is a nationally recognized expert in health equity, preventative public health strategies to address gun violence, and trauma-informed care delivery. Fatimah serves the inaugural Executive Director of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Gun Violence Research and Education and Executive Director of The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI). The HAVI trains and expands hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) to treat violently injured patients in over 100 cities in the United States.
Fatimah’s work and thought leadership has appeared on CNN, Washington Post, NPR, TIME, NY Times, Health Affairs, Politico, AP, and more. She is a psychotherapist by training and holds an MBA from Yale School of Management.
Freedom Jones
CEO, Street Pauses Inc
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Freedom Jones is the Founder and CEO of Street Pause Inc. and the Senior Community Violence Intervention Advisor at LifeBridge Health’s Center for Hope, two visionary sister organizations advancing innovative approaches to community violence intervention, digital harm reduction, and healing justice. With more than 20 years of experience as a strategist, consultant, and nonprofit executive, Freedom is a nationally respected leader in trauma informed program design, culturally rooted training, and public health strategies that center equity. She leads with unwavering love for people, grounding her work in compassion, spiritual clarity, and an unshakable commitment to Black and Brown communities.
At the core of Freedom’s practice is a deeply held belief: Black and Brown communities hold the power to heal, restore, and transform themselves. Her work is dedicated to confronting systemic injustice while creating spaces for collective healing, cultural reclamation, and self-determined solutions. Through every program, training, and partnership, she uplifts the dignity, brilliance, and leadership of those most impacted by inequity.
Freedom is deeply skilled in building transformative partnerships locally and nationally. From Baltimore to cities across the U.S., she has formed lasting collaborations with grassroots leaders, hospitals, city agencies, researchers, and credible messengers to design intervention models that are responsive, sustainable, and centered in community wisdom. A graduate of the inaugural cohort of the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, Freedom has received The Daily Record’s Health Care Heroes Award and the Nelson L. Kellogg Award for social impact and visionary leadership. Most recently, she was honored as an Ad Council Champion for Good.
Through Street Pause Inc., Freedom developed one of the country’s first grassroots digital violence response models, designed to intervene at the source online, where many modern conflicts begin. The organization mobilizes digital responders to interrupt digital escalation, support high risk youth, and cultivate safer online ecosystems grounded in community care. In addition to her national consulting and program development work, Freedom is an acclaimed metal sculptor, creating welded works from steel, glass, and wood that explore themes of memory, liberation, and inner transformation. Her art has been featured in exhibitions across the Mid-Atlantic and remains a spiritual extension of her healing work.
At the core of Freedom’s practice is a deeply held belief: Black and Brown communities hold the power to heal, restore, and transform themselves. Her work is dedicated to confronting systemic injustice while creating spaces for collective healing, cultural reclamation, and self-determined solutions. Through every program, training, and partnership, she uplifts the dignity, brilliance, and leadership of those most impacted by inequity.
Freedom is deeply skilled in building transformative partnerships locally and nationally. From Baltimore to cities across the U.S., she has formed lasting collaborations with grassroots leaders, hospitals, city agencies, researchers, and credible messengers to design intervention models that are responsive, sustainable, and centered in community wisdom. A graduate of the inaugural cohort of the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, Freedom has received The Daily Record’s Health Care Heroes Award and the Nelson L. Kellogg Award for social impact and visionary leadership. Most recently, she was honored as an Ad Council Champion for Good.
Through Street Pause Inc., Freedom developed one of the country’s first grassroots digital violence response models, designed to intervene at the source online, where many modern conflicts begin. The organization mobilizes digital responders to interrupt digital escalation, support high risk youth, and cultivate safer online ecosystems grounded in community care. In addition to her national consulting and program development work, Freedom is an acclaimed metal sculptor, creating welded works from steel, glass, and wood that explore themes of memory, liberation, and inner transformation. Her art has been featured in exhibitions across the Mid-Atlantic and remains a spiritual extension of her healing work.
Gregory Jackson
President, Rocket Foundation
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Greg Jackson, now President of Rocket Foundation, is a community organizer, political strategist and issue advocate. Prior to becoming Community Justice Action Fund’s Executive Director, Greg served as the National Advocacy Director for 2 years. In this role he worked with communities, elected officials, community leaders and impacted residents to advocate for proactive and preventive solutions to end gun violence. Greg led the effort to build political power through electoral participation, spearheading the 2020 Elect Justice Campaign that mobilized over a 1,000 volunteers and connected with over 1.6 million voters across the country.
As a gun violence survivor, gun violence prevention is personal for Greg. While being questioned by law enforcement in his hospital bed, Greg remembers being treated like a criminal and not like a victim. This experience and his recovery propelled Greg into action, becoming a vocal and leading voice on gun violence prevention for Black and brown communities.
Following his recovery, Greg became an avid mentor to local at risk youth and built multiple youth engagement movements like #WeReadDC that empowered hundreds of volunteers to support Washington, DC area youth through monthly reading events.
As the youngest member of Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration, Greg served as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services. Greg then went on to lead Community Engagement and Communications for the Washington, D.C.’s Office of Neighborhood Safety & Engagement (ONSE). At ONSE, Greg oversaw community events, outreach activities, policy development, violence reducing programs and direct engagement of residents most at risk to gun violence.
Before dedicating his life to gun violence prevention, Greg worked as a community organizer through various roles, including the Co-Chair of DC for Obama, the Obama for America, North Carolina - Field Director, the Southern Regional Director at Organizing for Action and the National Field Director, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, where he ran the largest midterm election voter registration program in U.S. History.
Greg, an avid runner that has completed 5 half marathons, enjoys recreational sports and created a citywide organization offering recreational sports activities for thousands of young adults throughout the D.C. area.
Heather Warnken
Executive Director, Center for Criminal Justice Reform
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Heather Warnken is executive director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the University of Baltimore School of Law, working to support community driven efforts to advance public safety and address the harm and inequity caused by the criminal legal system. She leads the Center’s policy advocacy work at the state, local and national levels. She recently served on the Executive Committee of the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative, a historic initiative launched by the state Public Defender and Attorney General to address mass incarceration and its extreme racial disparities, and co-chaired the Law Enforcement Policies and Practices Working Group. Prior to coming to UBalt, she served as visiting fellow at the US Department of Justice in the first-ever position dedicated to bridging the gap between research, policy and practice to improve the response to communities impacted by crime victimization, and as legal policy associate at the Warren Institute on Law & Social Policy at University of California, Berkeley School of Law. She was recently recognized by The Daily Record as a ‘Leader in Law’ and as a ‘Gamechanger’ by Baltimore Magazine.
Jermia “Mia Jaye” Jerdine
Legal Educator, Community Violence Legal Network
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Mia Jaye serves as a Legal Educator with the Community Violence Legal Network (CVLN), where she equips community violence intervention practitioners, survivors, and advocates with practical legal knowledge and tools to navigate complex legal systems with confidence. Through training, education, and strategic guidance, she helps bridge the gap between grassroots violence prevention efforts and the law — strengthening the capacity of organizations nationwide to operate safely, effectively, and with greater legal awareness. Her role reflects her commitment to ensuring that those closest to the pain are also empowered with protection, information, and agency.
Mia’s advocacy journey began in 2015 with the founding of Fresh Start Kidz, Inc. (FSK), a nonprofit created in response to the lack of nutritional education in underserved communities. She authored the self-published children’s book No Way Tre, You Can’t Have Your Way: Fruit Instead of Junk Food Today to promote healthy habits that nurture strong minds and bodies. After the tragic loss of her brother in 2020, Mia’s work expanded beyond physical wellness to confront the systemic violence impacting the very families she sought to serve. She launched Black Men Deserve To Grow Old (BMDTGO), transforming personal grief into a national advocacy campaign focused on the protection, longevity, and empowerment of Black men.
In 2021, Mia experienced another profound loss when her fiancé was taken by gun violence. Rather than retreat, she deepened her resolve — unifying her initiatives under FSK x BMDTGOcares to address community wellness holistically: from nutrition and youth development to violence prevention, trauma-informed support, and legal empowerment. Today, her work across CVLN, FSK, and BMDTGO operates as an interconnected ecosystem — prevention, advocacy, education, and systemic reform working together. Mia’s past and present initiatives collectively reflect a bold vision for the future: building safer communities, protecting life, strengthening families, and advancing a model of resilience that transforms pain into purposeful, lasting impact.
Kyle Fischer, MD, MPH
Policy Director, The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention
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Kyle Fischer, MD, MPH, FACEP is a clinical associate professor and the director of the Health Policy and Leadership Fellowship program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine. Broadly, his interests focus on novel approaches to emergency department based public health interventions and their intersection with public policy. Dr. Fischer works extensively in the field of violence prevention through the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention where he serves as the Policy Director.
Dr. Fischer’s health policy work is grounded in considerable experience in legislative health policy. He has previously held positions in the Wisconsin and Maryland state legislatures as well as the United States House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee- Subcommittee on Health.
Dr. Fischer received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin. He continued at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health to receive a combined MD/MPH. He completed his emergency medicine residency at
Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he was also chief resident.
Subsequently, he completed a fellowship in health policy and leadership at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Lakeesha Eure
First Deputy Mayor for Public Safety,
First Director of Newark’s Office of Violence Prevention
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Lakeesha Eure a proud native of Newark, NJ, who has achieved the status of an accomplished Masters Level Licensed Clinical Social Worker and currently serves as the First Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and the First Director of Newark’s Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery. Lakeesha’s remarkable journey has been marked by exceptional leadership and an unwavering dedication to community service. With a specialized focus on trauma, domestic violence, sexual assault, and community violence, Lakeesha has become a sought-after community-based therapist. Her unique skill set involves activating trauma-focused wraparound services and community-based interventions, aimed at healing communities in need. Her work has contributed to year over year homicide reductions and crime reduction in the city of Newark.
Beyond her clinical work, Lakeesha is the visionary founder of Beta Kappa Sigma Black and Latina Sorority Inc. Through this organization, she empowers young women by fostering a sense of culture, achievement, and excellence. Her impact on empowering women earned her prestigious accolades, including the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Inc- Women of Achievement Award and the Civic Awareness of Public Safety Award in 2022. She currently serves on the Governor’s Victims of Crime Compensation Board and the Essex County Gun Violence Advisory Board.
In 2009 the Newark Anti Violence Coalition was formed and they became a cornerstone in the City of Newark and became the longest running antiviolence movement in the US for over 155 weeks, where she served as the Former Chairwoman. This coalition has been a driving force in raising awareness, providing crucial support to affected families, and educating the community on violence prevention. Lakeesha’s relentless commitment to public safety was honored with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Women’s History Month – Top Achievement in Public Safety award in 2021. Lakeesha’s advocacy extends to vital issues such as community policing, police reform, and the establishment of a Civilian Complaint Review Board in Newark. Her dedication to these causes and her community has earned her respect and recognition.
Currently pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Southern California, Lakeesha plans to utilize her research and evaluation skills to support community-based organizations and city government in addressing crime and violence, further solidifying her commitment to community wellness. Lakeesha’s activism goes beyond her professional role. She has been at the forefront, organizing impactful rallies, protests, and town hall meetings. Her active engagement with the community has been instrumental in decreasing crime and violence, leading to her being awarded the Inspired By You- Community Service Award in 2022.
Lakeesha Eure is not just a local figure; she has made a significant impact nationally. She has hosted public safety town halls, trainings, workshops to help other cities and states develop their eco-systems and public safety models. She is building, developing and executing Newark’s national model. Her unwavering commitment to public service and community wellness has earned her the respect and admiration of many. Lakeesha’s journey is a testament to the power of dedicated individuals in healing and strengthening our communities.”
Oresa Napper-Williams
CEO, Not Another Child, Inc.
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Oresa Napper-Williams is the founder and CEO of Not Another Child, Inc. (NAC), a New York-based non-profit she established in 2006 following the death of her 21-year-old son, Andrell Daron Napper, to a stray bullet in Brooklyn. She is a prominent advocate for gun violence prevention and a leader in providing therapeutic support for grieving families.
Her work is rooted in her personal tragedy; she founded NAC to ensure other mothers would not have to experience the same pain without support. She studied at the Metropolitan College of New York. She recently released a book titled Good Grief, which serves as a roadmap for healing, resilience, and reclaiming power after loss.
Phil Bangle
Attorney
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Phil represents victims of mass shootings and cities, states, and communtites in lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers.
He brings over 24 years of complex litigation and trial experience. Over the course of his career, Phil brought down a multi-state opioids conglomerate, developed a new form of public nuisance litigation, successfully brought novel theories of liability under the False Claims Act, and served as the lead attorney on over a dozen complex trials.
In 2025, he secured the largest jury verdict against a gun company in history — $62,000,000 — on behalf of a municipal client.Phil received his law degree from Tulane Law School, his Masters in Philosophy from Fordham University, and his undergraduate from Hampden-Sydney College.
Rey Chavis
Executive Director, Newark Community Street Team (NCST)
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Rey Chavis is a nationally recognized leader in community-based public safety and violence intervention, serving as the Executive Director of the Newark Community Street Team (NCST), Newark's flagship community violence intervention organization. With a deep understanding of the streets of Newark and the systems that have long impacted them, Rey draws on both his personal and professional experiences to create transformative change. His work is rooted in a commitment to healing, accountability, and equity-and to building a safer Newark from the ground up.
A proud native of Newark, Rey's lived experience including time spent incarceral spaces-has become a cornerstone of his leadership philosophy. While incarcerated, he embarked on a journey of transformation through education and personal development, earning an Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts from Mercer County Community College and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Rutgers University-Newark. He also completed numerous certifications in areas such as Behavioral Modification, Conflict Resolution, Parenting, and Paralegal Studies. Since returning home in 2019, Rey has remained steadfast in his mission: to interrupt cycles of violence by training and mentoring others with similar backgrounds to use their stories, resilience, and insight to positively influence their communities.
Robyn Thomas
Co-Founder, Community Violence Legal Network
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Robyn Thomas is a nationally recognized leader in gun violence prevention law and policy reform, with decades of experience advancing evidence-based legal strategies to reduce violence and strengthen community safety. As Co-Founder of the Community Violence Legal Network (CVLN), she now helps guide the organization’s mission to equip survivors, community advocates, and practitioners with legal knowledge and tools that support justice, healing, and long-term safety.
Before her work with CVLN, Robyn served for 16 years as Executive Director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the legal and research arm of Giffords — the national gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Under her leadership, the Law Center became one of the foremost authorities in the United States on gun law, litigation strategy, and public policy.
Robyn joined the organization in 2006, and during her tenure helped transform it into an influential force for legal reform. She oversaw major expansions in litigation, policy work, and legislative advocacy — including filing amicus briefs in key Second Amendment cases and shaping a robust suite of state and federal gun safety laws.
Under Robyn’s leadership, the organization played a central role in the passage of dozens of state laws and regulations proven to reduce gun violence, co-sponsored landmark legislation like California’s Proposition 63, and developed innovative legal frameworks addressing community and urban violence. She also launched initiatives such as the Firearms Accountability Counsel Taskforce, which brought together top law firms to pursue affirmative litigation, and supported community-based violence prevention efforts through legal and policy partnerships.
Robyn’s influence extends well beyond organizational leadership: she is a trusted expert frequently called upon by national media and lawmakers. She has testified before Congress, the Senate and state legislatures, and her commentary has appeared on major outlets including 60 Minutes, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and others, helping the public and policymakers better understand the complexities of gun law and violence prevention.
Throughout her career, Robyn Thomas has been defined by her commitment to justice-oriented legal intervention and her belief in the power of law to create safer, healthier communities. As a co-founder of CVLN, she continues to bridge legal expertise with advocacy and community empowerment, strengthening the movement for meaningful change.
Somil Trivedi
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Democracy Forward
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Somil Trivedi is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Democracy Forward, where he develops and executes multidisciplinary projects across litigation, policy, and public advocacy to ensure that democracy truly works for our communities.
Somil was previously the Chief Legal & Advocacy Director at Maryland Legal Aid, leading a 200+ person legal and policy department covering all aspects of poverty reduction, including housing, consumer protection, and public benefits. Somil has also served as a Senior Staff Attorney at the National ACLU, focusing on criminal justice reform and voting rights; a Trial Attorney in the DOJ’s Fraud Section; and a Senior Associate at WilmerHale LLP.
Somil has litigated cases at all levels of the justice system, including the U.S. Supreme Court and several state high courts, and contributed to bill passage at the federal, state, and local levels. He is a frequent contributor to public discourse via TV appearances, op-eds, podcasts, and policy briefings, with appearances on CNN and Bloomberg, and in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, among other outlets.
Somil earned his BA from Georgetown University and his JD from Boston University School of Law. He lives in Maryland with his wife and two children, and is always up for barbecue, tennis, or live music.