Involving the Philanthropic & Corporate Community
The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention
Modeled in part on the 13 California Cities Gang Prevention Network, and on principles undergirding Federal Promise and Choice Neighborhoods, Safe Streets/Strong Communities, and Defending Childhood, the Forum was launched in 2010, with three primary goals:
- Elevate youth and gang violence as an issue of national importance.
- Enhance the capacity of participating localities as well as others across the country to more effectively prevent youth and gang violence.
- Sustain progress and systems change through engagement, alignment, and assessment.
To accomplish these goals, the Forum utilizes
- Multidisciplinary Partnerships (government and nongovernment agencies together with faith-based, community, business, and philanthropic entities)
- Balanced Approaches including prevention, intervention, law enforcement and re-entry
- Data-Driven Strategies
- Comprehensive Planning to guide the work
Forum cities include Boston, MA; Camden, NJ; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Memphis, TN; Minneapolis, MN; New Orleans, LA; Philadelphia, PA; Salinas, CA; and San Jose, CA.
Underscoring the importance of foundation involvement in the Forum's work, Vikki N. Spruill, President and CEO of The Council on Foundations said, "The Council on Foundations applauds the efforts of the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention to engage the philanthropic sector in its work. Tackling many of society's most intractable problems will require cross-sector partnerships like this. Many of our members find that collaboration affords them the best avenue for positive outcomes in areas like reducing violence and creating safe communities."