Last week, Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office GVPI Director Tierra Lemon and 30 other Community Violence Intervention (CVI) leaders from 20 cities across America graduated from the University of Chicago Crime Lab Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA) second cohort. The graduation ceremony took place in Los Angeles, California.  

The CVILA is a first-of-its kind, five months rigorous training that provides CVI leaders like Director Lemon with skills to improve their organizations and support their mission of preventing and reducing gun violence. 

“Earlier this year, I was selected to join 30 extraordinary superheroes as part of CVILA’s second cohort and this experience has been one that goes far beyond what my expectations were,” GVPI Director Lemon said. “As the GVPI Director, my main goal is to prevent gun violence in Lake County and the CVILA has given me the right tools to strengthen our efforts in addressing trauma, lack of services, and other root causes of gun violence.”  

The CVILA is the only management and leadership program in the country designed to help CVI leaders strengthen their programs and scale their impact. It offers emerging leaders hands-on training on staff management and retention, data use, violence prevention and reduction, and community engagement – ensuring CVI programs turn new funding into on-the-ground impact.  

As part of the program, students participated in immersive learning labs in Oakland, New York, and Washington, DC that integrated their classroom experiences with community-based experiences. 

“Director Tierra Lemon is an amazing leader who is receiving training from experts across the country from Hawaii, to Los Angeles, to Washington D.C. She and the GVPI are saving lives. Gun violence is down in Lake County partially because of the comprehensive work of the GVPI and its members. Thank you, Tierra for all that you do,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart stated.  

“These CVI leaders live and work in the communities they serve, and they are often in the best position to disrupt cycles of violence,” said CVI Leadership Academy Executive Director Dr. Chico Tillmon. “By investing in their skills, the CVI Leadership Academy will help communities across this country become safer and more resilient.” 

A team of key community violence intervention leaders from across the country serve on the CVI Leadership Academy Steering Committee. Along with the Black and Brown Peace Consortium, these leaders helped craft a curriculum and aided in the academy’s development to provide participants with transferable skills that they can leverage to support other organizations and groups, fostering well-rounded and skilled leaders within their communities and strengthening public safety, public trust, and equal justice. 

GVPI Director Lemon added, “The CVILA has helped me gain a holistic picture of the efforts being made nationwide to save people from gun violence.”  

For more information about the CVI Leadership Academy, visit https://crimelab.uchicago.edu/projects/community-violence-intervention-leadership-academy/