Peace is Blooming in Chicago
On Sunday, May 3rd the Chicago Peace Fellows launched the Peace Flowers campaign by delivering over 75 flower bouquets to mothers that have lost children to violence.
The Peace Flowers campaign is a collective response from the Chicago Peace Fellows Mutual Aid Collaborative comprised of 38 peace organizations throughout Chicago who are working togehter to address the twin epidemics of COVID-19 and violence in Chicago.
Violence is rising in Chicago in the same south and west side neighborhoods most impacted by COVID-19 where the Peace Fellows live and work. With funding for frontline peace-building organizations often diverted to respond to the coronavirus, the Mutual Aid Collaborative is building sustainable social impact models to raise funds and create jobs.
"Peace Flowers is an innovative and easy way to fund these organizations while also investing in sustainable job creation on the south and west side of Chicago where these lovely blooms are grown."
Quilen Blackwell, Chicago Peace Fellow, Chicago Eco House
Pamela Bosley, Co-founder of Purpose Over Pain, works with mothers to connect them with each other to build a community of support.
“Many of the moms have a hard time with Mother’s Day. With the pandemic, it’s been even harder. Many mothers are reporting problems with depression and other issues related to being disconnected.”
Pamela Bosley, Chicago Peace Fellow, Purpose Over Pain
Quilen Blackwell, Owner of Southside Blooms, a social enterprise that helps youth in Englewood find opportunities in urban farming. They work to build a sense of entrepreneurship to help youth see opportunity and way out of drug trade. Quilen saw an opportunity to support Pamela’s group by providing them with beautiful bouquets in honor of Mother’s Day and to help lift their spirits. “The flower market is in huge disruption right now. 80% of flowers are imported from overseas and due to the trade issues related to the corona virus, most flowers need to come from domestic sources.” Quilen noted.
AnnaMaria Leon, Co-owner of Homan Grown, saw a collaboration in the making. She noted how this idea can be more than just a single action but, can be a part of a broader strategy to support mothers and fund projects for the Chicago Peace Fellows. She contacted her friend, Pascal Sabino, a local reporter for Block Club Chicago who wrote a powerful article about the project. The story was also featured by ABC7 in this compelling feature.
Once the funding and logistics were done, the team came together to prepare and deliver the flowers. The flowers were delivered to families across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. The deliveries added a personal touch because they were distributed by Southside Blooms, Annamaria, and myself as Director of the Chicago Peace Fellows.
"I personally got the witness the joy and gratitude of the moms who received bouquets. It was a very moving experience to hand out flowers and cards that reminded the moms “You are not forgotten.”
Burrell Poe, Director, Chicago Peace Fellows
The deliveries were bittersweet, acknowleging the loss of family members but also because the deliveries were contact-less. No handshakes, no hugs, and at least 6ft of physical distance. Masks, gloves and hand sanitizer made this gesture different that it would have been prior to COVID-19. However, it made it all the more important because, people are suffering on top of the suffering that has already befallen their lives.
"Wonderful. Wonderful, it really made my day," said Elizabeth Bolden, a mother who received the bouquet.
The project has thus far raised over $5000 on GoFundMe and is entering into the next phase of it's social impact model where the public can purchase a subscription for flower delivery that also funds violence prevention work through the Chicago Peace Fellows Mutual Aid Collaborative.
Project oragnizers at Southside Blooms and Homan Grown will hire local youth to grow and arrange the flowers and donate a percent of their sales through the Peace Flowers campaign to support this network grassroots peace organizations on the West and South sides of Chicago plagued by the twin epidemics of violence and COVID-19.
"The goal is to create a long term sustainable funding stream for peace organizations in Chicago so that these groups have greater freedom at doing what they do best: making Chicago a more peaceful and beautiful place to live!"
Learn more about the Peace Flowers program at SouthSide Blooms
2019 Chicago Peace Fellows Report
For nearly two decades, the Chicago-based Goldin Institute has worked to build the capacity and amplify the voices of grassroots organizers in communities contending with the most challenging circumstances on Earth. In late 2018, the Goldin Institute was asked to design a course for grassroots organizers by the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a coalition of 40 Chicago-based foundations who are aligning their investments to support proven and promising approaches to reducing gun violence. The Goldin Institute relied on its extensive global experience to create the Chicago Peace Fellows.
The Peace Fellows is a curriculum and fellowship designed to support individual organizers who are prior grantees of the Partnership’s Chicago Fund and are working to stop violence and create opportunities for their neighbors to collaborate in promoting more peaceful communities across the city. The inaugural class of 18 Peace Fellows graduated in November 2019 after more than six months of collaborative learning and joint projects.
The Goldin Institute designed the Peace Fellows course in collaboration with previous Chicago Fund grantees and input from a wide range of civic stakeholders. Based on the advice they received, staff adapted GATHER, the Goldin Institute’s tablet-based curriculum that teaches a series of core social change concepts and tools for authentic community engagement for grassroots leaders across the globe, to fit the newly formed group of local neighborhood changemakers, enhancing the online course with in-person workshops and meetings with a wide range of civic leaders in Chicago.
The 18 Chicago Peace Fellows were selected from a pool of over 50 applicants who all live and work in community areas on the city’s South and West sides that are disproportionately affected by crime and violence. Each Peace Fellow received a stipend and an iPad pre-loaded with the GATHER software and curriculum. Connecting Chicago leaders through GATHER allowed Fellows to explore key concepts around social change and leadership development digitally while they continued playing key roles in their community organizations as they completed the course.
On March 8, 2019, the Peace Fellows convened at DePaul University for the launch of the program where they discussed their leadership styles and got to know their peers. Over the following several weeks, the Chicago Peace Fellows developed deep bonds and determined together the principles and practices that would enable them to learn and work together as a community of practice.
The experience continued through the exercises in the curriculum and a wide variety of in-person workshops highlighting key violence prevention skills and introductions to other organizations doing important violence prevention work in the city. Fellows also had access to elected officials and institutional leaders in Chicago and beyond.
Throughout the program, Fellows participated in over 50 events and workshops hosted by partner organizations, including:
- The City Club of Chicago presentation on Crime and Criminal Justice in Chicago led by Professor Jens Ludwig of the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
- A meeting with the Violence Interruption Team at the University of Chicago Trauma Center.
- A conversation with author Edgar Villanueva about his book, “Decolonizing Wealth.”
- A conversation with Chicago artists on the Role of the Arts in Social Justice followed guided tour of the Chicago Cultural Center exhibit by Cecil McDonald, Jr.
- An Asset Mapping workshop with John Zeigler of the DePaul’s Egan Center and the Asset Based Community Development Institute.
- A workshop on appreciative inquiry followed by a guided tour of the Garfield Park neighborhood with the outreach team at Breakthrough Ministries.
- A presentation by Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson with a question and answer session.
- An overview of Chicago’s broader strategy to prevent violence and a conversation with the violence prevention team at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago.
- Exploring opportunities to collaborate with the Chicago Park District over the summer.
- Conversation about the Role of Race and Representation in Violence at the Field Museum of Chicago featuring a tour of the “Looking At Ourselves” sculpture exhibit.
- A conversation with Alderman Walter Burnett about collaboration with civic leaders and city agencies.
- Exploration of the Role of Urban Planning and Civic Design in Peacebuilding at the Stony Island Arts Bank in collaboration with Studio Gang.
- Conversation about the importance of evaluation and data with the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
- A visit to Indiana to meet with the 10 Point Collaborative in Indianapolis, a local initiative to prevent violence.
These face-to-face meetings augmented the curriculum Fellows explored together using the GATHER digital platform specifically designed to enact the course’s pedagogy of learning as a community. Rather than a traditional teacher-to-student course, GATHER is made up of highly interactive chapters that guided Fellows through key concepts for social change. It then provided them space for shared reflection after they put those techniques into practice in low-stakes exercises with peers and assignments.
Towards the end of the curriculum, the Fellows planned and implemented community projects within their neighborhoods. The Goldin Institute assembled $30,000 in special funds for the Peace Fellows to execute these collaborative projects between July and September with the goal of involving community residents, creating peace, and promoting healing.
The planning process for the summer projects was likewise collaborative, beginning with the establishment of principles based on the key concepts explored during the GATHER course. The Fellows generated a wide variety of ideas together which they took back to their communities and organizations, and went through several more levels of review before they proceeded on the allocation of the funds. Moving in concert, the Fellows settled on eight summer projects, deciding how to fund each project with the $30,000 pool, acting as grant-maker as well as grantee.
Innovative, enlightening, powerful, sometimes spiritual and deeply emotional, the summer projects included an outdoor youth retreat that brought young people from different neighborhoods to an activity camp in the Wisconsin forest, a family and youth peace day in Bronzeville, a healing fair for senior citizens with yoga, tai chi and peace circles, and Passport to Peace events in parks and public spaces on the city’s South and West sides.
The 18 Peace Fellows graduated from the course on November 14, 2019, in a ceremony that they designed collaboratively, of course. Approximately 100 family, friends and supporters came out to celebrate the Fellows’ accomplishments.
The Goldin Institute’s Founders, Board Chair Diane Goldin and Executive Director Travis Rejman, welcomed the Peace Fellows to the Institute’s global community of practice, adding that the program brought home to Chicago everything they had learned around the globe.
“Over the past 17 years working in over 50 countries, we’ve seen that real and sustainable change is always rooted in the power of communities building on their assets and inviting voices people on the front lines to make decisions,” Travis said.
The Fellows took the opportunity to share “What they did,” “What they learned,” and “Where they are going.” In groups of 4-5, the Fellows relayed the most meaningful moments of their time together and inspired all those in attendance with their passion as well as the kinship and respect they had come to feel for each other.
“We all come from different points in life and we got to hear from people using resources and what they know in their communities to make a difference,” said Peace Fellow Frank Latin, founder and executive director of the Westside Media Project. “We all come together regardless of our backgrounds and what we’ve been through to try and make a better place to live.”
A 12’ long graphic timeline hung in the graduation space displaying all the events the Fellows had attended and all the workshops in which they had participated, illustrated with pictures from their highly successful summer projects.
Upon their graduation, the Peace Fellows officially joined a growing network of Global Gather Fellows currently representing 14 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America. They have access to an international network for mutual support, ongoing learning and global cooperation.
Systemic and adaptive challenges facing our communities will require new approaches to see and change the system by building on our local assets and unlocking the potential of emerging leaders. To address these dynamic issues, the GATHER Global Alumni network meets online each month for workshops and discussions on themes selected by the alumni themselves. Recent workshops have included trainings on metrics and evaluation; children and armed conflict; and preventing violent extremism.
The overwhelmingly positive response from the inaugural cohort of Chicago Peace Fellows has inspired the Goldin Institute and the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities to expand the Peace Fellows program in 2020.
The Goldin Institute thanks the Conant Family Foundation, the Polk Bros. Foundation, Chase Bank, the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communitiesand our generous network of champions for community-driven social change for their support of the Chicago Peace Fellows.
The Goldin Institute extends its deepest appreciation to the following organizations and groups who provided critical assistance, hosted workshops, collaborated on peace building projects and shared insights to make the Chicago Peace Fellows an inspiring and productive experience:
2016 Ma’at, Academy for Global Citizenship, Alliance for the South East, Agape Werks, Asset Based Community Development Institute, Atonement Church, Automotive Mentoring Group, Be Different, Black Star Project, Blocks Together, Breakthrough Urban Ministries, Bright Star Church, Brothers Standing Together, Chase Bank, Chicago Alternatives to Incarceration Collaborative, Chicago Cares, Chicago Community Trust, Chicago CRED, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago Foundation for Women, Chicago Knights Robotics Team, Chicago Park District, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Public Libraries, Chicago Women’s AIDS Project, Chicago Youth Programs, CIGNA, City Bureau, City Club of Chicago, City Colleges of Chicago, Chopin Theater, Churchview Senior Living Facility, Community Builder, Conant Family Foundation, Crossroads Fund, Cure Violence, CNI Group, Crown Family Foundation, CWAP, Darren B. Easterling Center for Restorative Practices, David Lynch Foundation, DePaul University, DePaul University Egan Office of Urban Education, DePaul University Steans Center, GodTess, Graphics 2020, Grow Greater Englewood, Healing Home, Heartland Alliance READI Program , I Am My Brothers Keeper, Imago Dei, Imani Community Development Corporation, Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, Kids Off the Block, King of Glory Tabernacle, Ladies of Virtue , MacArthur Foundation, Maple Park Community Association, Maple Park UMC, Marion Nzinga Stamps Youth Center, McCormick Foundation, Metropolitan Family Services, Metropolitan Peace Academy, Metropolitan Planning Council, Mikva Challenge, Missionary Baptist Church , M.I.T. School of Urban Planning, NeighborSpace, New America Foundation, New Eclipse Community Alliance, Northeastern Illinois University, OperaMatic, Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, Phoenix Life Solutions, PNC Bank, Polk Bros. Foundation, Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, Project, R.A.G.E., Rebuild Foundation, Resurrection Project, Restore Justice Illinois, Stony Island Arts Bank, Studio Gang, Taylor Investment Partners, Teamwork Englewood, Technology for Social Good Lab, Ten Point Coalition, Indianapolis, Telpochcalli Community Education Project, ThinkInc., TREAD, UCLA Department of Black Studies, United Way, University of Chicago Crime Lab, University of Chicago Law School, University of Chicago Trauma Center, University of Illinois, Urban Labs, US Bank, Veterans for Peace, Westside Justice Center, Westside Media Project, Woods Fund, Young Chicago Authors.
Special acknowledgment to those partners, mentors, consultants, friends and colleagues whose ideas and expertise made the Chicago Peace Fellows possible:
Marshan Allen, Michael Aguhar, Daniel Ash, Shannon Barr, Abraham Bendheim, Chris Bennett, Deborah Bennett, Esteban Bey, Mecca Bey, Gia Biagi, Garenne Bigby, Quincy Bingham, Eddie Bocanegra, Vaughn Bryant, Mary Scott-Boria, Bliss Brown, Walter Burnett, Asiaha Butler, Elena Calzada, Jacob Campbell, Annmarie Chereso, Linc Cohen, Daniel Cooper, Kevin Coval , Tara Dabney, Vanessa Dereef, Katherine Elmer-Dewitt, Stacy Erenberg, Jessa Dickinson, Alejandro DiPrizio, David Doig, Anders Donskov, Lisa Dush, Leif Elsmo, Kahil El’Zabar, Sheena Erete, Derrick Faulkner, Gary Feinerman, Ghian Foreman, Christian Forman, Craig Futterman , Theaster Gates, Joseph Genslak, Teny Gross, Janet Hanley, Troy Harden, John Hardy, Nekenya Hardy, Charles Harrison, Damion Heron, Jeffrey Hodges, Khari Humphries, Shruti Jayaraman, Frankie Johnson, Tonika Johnson, Terence Keel, Jody Kretzmann, Teddy Krolik, Rebekah Levin, Keith Lewis, Eric Ljung, Dan Lurie, Kristen Mack, Mallory McClaire, Cecil McDonald, Ceasar McDowell, Delano McIntyre, Tawa Mitchell, Michelle Morales, Sheelah Muhammad, Amalia Nieto-Gomez, Mark Orthman, Ashley Perkins, Jobi Peterson, Christy Prahl, Julian Posada, Tony Raggs, Leslie Ramyk, Kim Redding, Robert Rejman, Raymond Richard, Art Richardson, Jose Rico, Robin Robinson, Jane Saks, Anton Seals, Kimberly Smith, Alexis Smyser, Rahmaan Statik, Justice Stamps, Arny Steiber, Ole Qvist-Sorensen, Arloa Sutter, Bruce Taylor, Tess Torziata, Susana Vasquez, Edgar Villanueva, Cortez Watson, Alaka Wali, Artimmeo Williamson, John Wolf, Lora York, John Zeigler.
Celebrating the Graduation of the Chicago Peace Fellows
By Ethan Michaeli, Senior Advisor for Communications
For Velvian Boswell, being a Chicago Peace Fellow transformed the way she saw her own neighborhood. Speaking to a room packed with family, friends and supporters at the Peace Fellows’ graduation, Boswell, who works as a recovery specialist for the Chicago Women's AIDS Project, recalled the component of the curriculum in which they were asked to create asset maps of their own neighborhoods. In the beginning, Boswell didn’t think there were many assets in her community, Englewood on the city’s South Side.
“At first, I thought of all the liquor stores,” Velvian said, “but I had to take a step back.”
“We have a lot of history, a lot of people, and a lot of resources in Englewood. That is what I learned as a Chicago Peace Fellow.” -- Velvian Boswell
Boswell was just one of 18 grassroots organizers who graduated from the first cohort of Chicago Peace Fellows on November 14 at an event space on Division Street in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Each of the Fellows lives and works in neighborhoods dealing with disproportionate rates of crime and violence, and they celebrated months of work sharing their experiences, learning new techniques, and expanding their networks as well as acquiring new contacts and resources.
The Fellows will join the Goldin Institute’s international cohort of grassroots organizers around the world who are developing innovative strategies for empowering their neighbors and fostering healing in areas torn by war and natural disaster. The Peace Fellows were trained through GATHER, which is both a software and a curriculum designed by the Goldin Institute to facilitate peer-to-peer learning.
“This is one of those moments when life comes full circle,” said Travis Rejman, the Goldin Institute’s executive director, introducing the Peace Fellows at the event.
Travis described the Goldin Institute’s origins in 2002 during a week-long conclave in Chicago that brought together an unprecedented roster of grassroots organizers from around the globe. Participants studied the city’s rich history of community organizing, and shared the wisdom they had acquired in their work in different cities before collectively conceiving of an organization that could help grassroots organizations foster conversations, build their networks, and tap new resources.
“We’ve been pursuing those principles and putting them into practice over the last 17 years in over 50 countries. The key to our mission to create spaces for grassroots leaders to learn and work together so they can connect around issues they care about and collaborate across borders.” -- Travis Rejman
The Peace Fellows program, Travis explained, was built on the lessons learned through these years of work and especially through the international GATHER Fellows. The asset map Velvian described is just one of the exercises designed to “understand power, privilege and race, and the intersectionality of how those forces intersect with our peace building.” All of the components of the curriculum were calibrated to “center voices of those who are often excluded, knowing that those who have the most at stake and the most wisdom.”
Overall, the Peace Fellows participated in 50 workshops, trainings and meetings with civic leaders, at least one event every two weeks and many weeks with multiple events. In addition to the shared learning sessions, the Peace Fellows collaboratively planned 8 projects in the summer and beyond with special funding from the Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities.
“Over the past 17 years working in over 50 countries, we’ve seen that real and sustainable change is always rooted in the power of communities building on their assets and inviting voices people on the front lines to make decisions,” Travis said.
Goldin Institute Program Coordinator Burrell Poe praised the Peace Fellows for their dedication and assiduity, and welcomed them into the “community of practice” with the GATHER Fellows. An organizer himself, Burrell said the mutual support was essential for effecting change.
“It’s really about how do people who do the work stick together, how do they support each other,” Burrell said.
“At the end of the day, if I’m someone who’s working hard in Englewood, it’s nice for me to know someone who’s working hard in Austin. That connection is powerful because we’re doing the work in our own communities and sometimes we can feel so alone and being together a community of practice is so important.”
Peace Fellow Frank Latin, the founder and executive director of Westside Media Project, recalled one workshop at the Institute for Non Violence Chicago, where they spoke with case workers and others engaging with young men in the community at high risk for being both perpetrators and victims of violence. Many of the case workers have personal experience with street violence, and Frank remembered the conversation as robust and incisive, piercing the myths that cloud the picture of what is actually happening in neighborhood like Austin on the city’s West Side.
“I got to hear directly from people who look, quite frankly, just like me,” Frank said.
“We got to hear directly from people working on the front lines, some of the challenges that don’t make the news, like why are people carrying guns. Not everyone who is carrying a gun in Austin is a predator. A lot of people were trying to protect themselves, but once you get arrested, you’re going to same jail cell.” -- Frank Latin
Frank continued that it as a resident of another neighborhood handling high levels of violence, he knew already that it was a “no brainer necessity” to work with those whose past includes criminality. But often, the prevailing narrative in mainstream media, the academy, and even among social services are wary of direct contact with those most likely to be involved in violence.
“We all come from different points in life and we got to hear from people using resources and what they know in their communities to make a difference,” Frank said.
“We all come together regardless of our backgrounds and what we’ve been through to try and make a better place to live.”
Peace Fellow Dawn Hodges, executive director of Imani Community Development Corporation in South Chicago, talked about the collective planning process for deciding how to fund the summer projects. It took several rounds of very active conversations and lots of sticky notes as well as a few digital tools, but in the end, the Peace Fellows had decided on eight innovative initiatives, each of which involved multiple Fellows.
The summer projects included “Passport to Peace” events, community fairs with peace circles, tai chi classes and other services for community residents, the “Youth Exchange,” an overnight retreat at a Wisconsin camp site for young people from different neighborhoods, and a retreat for the Peace Fellows themselves, a rare opportunity to reflect and discuss.
“The powerful part was those who got funded less but needed more and those who got more we all ended up sharing, so all the projects that were going to be funded got funded,” Dawn explained.
Maria Velazquez, executive director of Telpochcalli Community Education Project in the Little Village neighborhood, admitted that she was not particularly tech-savvy when she received the iPad preloaded with the GATHER software. But she quickly got help both from the Goldin Institute staff and from other Peace Fellows.
That sense of camaraderie was key to the GATHER curriculum’s success for Maria. After 17 years at Telpochcalli, a mostly volunteer organization, she focused on learning new techniques that will make collective decision more effective. But overall, Maria was thrilled to find a new cohort of peers with whom she can share her experiences and challenges.
“Often, we feel very isolated like we are the only ones doing it. Now I have a team of people I can turn to.” -- Maria Velazquez
The event continued with comments from other Fellows as well as supporters including Conant Family Foundation Executive Director Leslie Ramyk, who collaborated closely with Travis to fund the first class of Peace Fellows and pledged to do what she could to make sure there would be additional cohorts.
"Thank you for being the inaugural Chicago Peace Fellows. I’m so excited with everything that happened this year. The least I can do – and what I must do – is raise the money so we can do this again.” -- Leslie Ramyk, Conant Family Foundation
The graduation celebration closed with a rousing – if slightly off-key – group sing-along led by Peace Fellow Gloria Smith, who wrote new lyrics under the title “We are building up a new world” to the tune of the traditional song “Jacob’s Ladder.”
The Goldin Institute thanks the Conant Family Foundation, the Polk Bros. Foundation, Chase Bank, the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities and our generous network of champions for community driven social change for supporting the Chicago Peace Fellows
Download the Graduation Booklet to Learn More
Partnering with DePaul's Technology for Social Good Lab
One of the Goldin Institute’s core values is to build partnerships that are rooted in the power of communities working together to build solutions that can help generate local social change. The Chicago Peace Fellows have done this throughout the 2019 GATHER course, working to build community not only within their neighborhoods, but also among themselves and with civic partners throughout Chicago.
As part of the GATHER course, the Chicago Peace Fellows generated Asset Maps of their neighborhoods, asking friends and neighbors what they considered “assets” in their communities. After coming together as a cohort to discuss all the assets they identified in the 14 neighborhoods in which they work, a larger discussion was initiated around a “Living Asset Map” that could be city-wide, connecting grassroots leaders and nonprofits throughout the city with each other and like-minded organizations as well as other institutions and public leaders.
To move this conversation forward, the Goldin Institute has partnered with Dr. Sheena Erete at DePaul University's Technology for Social Good Lab to research and prototype a digital version of a shared asset map of the 19 Community Areas designated for grants by the Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities. Three undergraduate students sponsored by DePaul’s Steans Center will be joined by three graduate students to design an interface that supports asset-mapping by Chicago grassroots leaders and their communities.
The undergraduate students from the Department of Geography will use their expanding technical skills in digital map-making, incorporating data from the city as well as from the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Metropolitan Planning Council to create base maps for each area before digitally adding the assets identified by the Peace Fellows during their progress through the GATHER course.
The three graduate students will work with the Technology for Social Good Research and Design Lab, where Dr. Erete is the director, to engage community organizations across Chicago in interviews and design workshops, enhancing the base maps created by their undergraduate teammates as a prototype an interactive digital tool that can connect grassroots leaders, increase their collaboration, and act as a citywide tool for peace building. Their work will begin this semester and stretch into summer 2020.
“We are excited to collaborate with the Goldin Institute because the Chicago Peace Fellows' work is rooted in their communities and leverages local assets, which we believe is the only way to grow and sustain healthy communities.” -- Jessa Dickinson, doctoral candidate, DePaul University.
During asset mapping workshops held by the Goldin Institute for the Chicago Peace Fellows, the Fellows identified layers not typically found on traditional asset maps. They became specifically interested in mapping less visible, but equally valuable, assets such as the tight networks of friends from demolished public housing buildings who continue to meet for annual reunions near the sites of their former buildings even though they have all been relocated to other neighborhoods, or the impact that a block leader might have on a neighborhood, or physical spaces like closed schools that are not currently in use but could easily be turned into space for after school programs, meetings of community organization, or partnership opportunities.
Encouraged by the relationships that they have found with institutional leaders such as the Chicago Park District and the University of Chicago Trauma Center, the Fellows view this digital map as another item in their expanding toolbox to prevent violence, build peace in their neighborhoods, and make the entire city safer.
Key features of the new digital map’s design will be the ability to capture non-physical assets that exist in each of our communities, a user-friendly interface for grassroots leaders, and public access to add to the collective asset map of Chicago.
Peace Fellows Advisors Review Progress
With the first cohort of the Chicago Peace Fellows finishing their summer projects and nearing the end of their curriculum, the Goldin Institute convened a dinner meeting of prominent advisers on Thursday, September 12, to discuss strategies for sharing the Fellows’ accomplishments and wisdom during their upcoming graduation.
Held at the Erie Café in the city’s River North neighborhood, this was the third advisors dinner, and was attended by Goldin Institute Founder and Board Chair Diane Goldin, GATHER alumnus Raymond Richard, founder of Brothers Standing Together, a Chicago-based non-profit organization; Leslie Ramyk, Executive Director, Conant Family Foundation; Teresa Zeigler and John Zeigler, director of DePaul University’s Egan Office of Urban Education and Community Partnerships; Mimi Frankel, a member of the Frankel Family Foundation’s Board of Directors and the Goldin Institute’s Board of Advisors; Lisa Dush, a DePaul University professor who is conducting an academic evaluation of GATHER; Justice Stamps, who runs the Marion Nzinga Stamps Youth Center mentoring program on the Near North Side; José Rico, a Director of Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation for Greater Chicago; Rob Rejman, vice president, Ascent; as well as Goldin Institute staff led by Executive Director Travis Rejman, along with Oz Ozburn, Jimmie Briggs and Burrell Poe.
The Goldin Institute team began with an update on the many workshops and events that the Peace Fellows have participated in, including the strategy session with the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago, the exploration of the role of urban planning and design in building safe communities with Studio Gang and the Rebuild Foundation and the meeting with Alderman Burnett on how grassroots leaders can more effectively collaborate with city-wide initaitives.
All the participants framed the Peace Fellows’ work in the context of the continuing unacceptable levels of violence in some Chicago neighborhoods. Jose Rico spoke about the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformational Initiative as well as about regular meetings in the office of Chicago’s newly elected Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and how the Fellows’ work could inform their discussions.
The Conant Foundation’s Leslie Ramyk said Chicago’s philanthropic leaders were mobilizing beyond their daily duties to respond to the crisis, including collaborating to publish a recent Op Ed, Enough With Hate, in Crain’s Chicago Business. Many family foundations are responding to the violence, moreover, by seeking out and listening to community leaders, using their leverage, power and privilege to try and make the social standard more equitable.
[quote]“This is outside of our job descriptions. We do it because of the necessity of this crisis.” -- Leslie Ramyk, Conant Family Foundation[/quote]
Mimi Frankel of the Frankel Family Foundation observed, “We are dealing with a totally different environment than we have had before.”
Goldin Institute Executive Director Travis Rejman talked about the importance of building a movement of connected peace-makers and quoted the maxim, "Great leaders don't inspire movements, movements inspire great leaders."
Senior Adviser Jimmie Briggs suggested building interest from journalists in the Peace Fellows’ efforts through various efforts, including a panel discussion. As a New York-based writer with roots in the Midwest, Jimmie was enthusiastic about the potential for the Fellows’ stories to reach a broad audience.
[quote]“Visiting this city can feel like you're in different countries as you go from neighborhood to neighborhood. Some areas are safe and some aren't and you can live in this city and have fully different experiences.” -- Jimmie Briggs[/quote]
He added that a narrative encompassing all the Peace Fellows’ diverse experiences would be inspirational. "If there is no narrative out there, it didn't happen," Jimmie cautioned.
Program Coordinator Burrell Poe said that when he was interviewing Fellows, one of their most common requests was to meet others doing similar work. Now that the program is up and running, he was proud to have facilitated the Fellows’ early contacts and that they are now working closely together.
“They are really loving it,” Burrell said of the Fellows’ collaborations.
DePaul University’s Lisa Dush, who is conducting an evaluation of the fellowship, said her challenge was to adapt available metrics to accurately measure results. While data is available to indicate the Fellows’ progress through the curriculum, she wants to make sure she documents the true picture of their experience.
John Zeigler discussed changing the prevailing narrative of the city’s communities, and change the focus of philanthropies, who tend to make grants to programs which generate quick results, rather than long-term investments.
John asked, “How do you challenge or disrupt that narrative?”
[quote]“Chicago is a city of neighborhoods but it is also a city priding themselves on growing organizers.” -- John Ziegler, DePaul University[/quote]
In that vein, John was pleased the curriculum had fostered meaningful and productive connections among the Peace Fellows.
“The Chicago Peace Fellows build trust and social capital with each other,” he said. “Social capital is a process, and the Chicago Peace Fellows invests in the process.”
Raymond Richard of Brothers Standing Together spoke about the responsibilities of community leaders, including non-profit executives, to work in concert and demonstrate dignity to younger generations. Philanthropies will have to be involved through determined strategies, he continued.
“These kids are fighting the same fight and they don't even know it,” Brother Ray said.
[quote]“If we're going to break down a barrier, we have to lead by example. We don't want the children to know how much we know. We want them to know how much we care." -- Raymond Richard, Brothers Standing Together[/quote]
Passport to Peace Draws Together 200 Neighbors
On Saturday, September 7, the Chicago Peace Fellows gathered in Cooper Park in the West Pullman community on the Far South Side to spread peace. Hosted by Pastor Robert Biekman, this event was the second of the Passport 2 Peace series, one of the Chicago Peace Fellows’ summer projects. Each event in the series is being held in a different community but all include peace building activities such as intergenerational peace circles, yoga, mediation and entertainment. The final event will be held Saturday, September 28.
The Cooper Park event was attended by over 200 community residents who participated in activities such as Tai Chi, reflexology and meditation. Each guest received a “passport” with the task of visiting booths and participating in the activities, which would earn them a stamp. One Peace Fellow, Robin Cline, came very close to visiting each activity, and many at the event went from station to station learning more about what peace feels like.
Fellow Gloria Smith, executive director of the Black Star Project, commented, “I loved every minute of it, including the tai chi exercises and the intergenerational peace circles. I also really enjoyed the camaraderie among the people in attendance.” Gloria was part of the planning team for the event, and worked closely with Robert to put the event together.
Robert noted that several years ago, the Cooper Park playground had been the location of a horrific incident in which two young men were shot. Because of that incident, the park was saddled with a reputation as a violent place and many neighborhood residents refused to utilize it. Robert envisioned hosting Passport 2 Peace in the park, therefore, to challenge that narrative and have people actively think about peace in that park.
“Passport 2 Peace exceeded our expectations!” Pastor Biekman reflected.
Peace Fellows Present to Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities
On July 24, a delegation of Chicago Peace Fellows presented their work together thus far to a large meeting of 2019 grantees as well as the funders of the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a coalition of more than 40 Chicago philanthropies and donors who have provided grants to community groups trying to reduce violence in disproportionately affected neighborhoods on the South and West sides.
The Peace Fellows were part of the agenda for the conclave at the Hatchery, a spacious new not-for-profit on the West Side that provides training as well as modern facilities to aspiring food entrepreneurs, including equipment for cooking, freezing and storage as well as events.
Attending on behalf of the Goldin Institute were Fellows Maria Velasquez, Robert Biekman, Jacqueline Moore, Pamela Butts, Jamila Trimuel, and Gloria Smith along with artist Cecil McDonald, who is documenting the program in video and photography, Lisa Dush, a professor at DePaul University who is conducting a professional evaluation of the GATHER software and curriculum, and Goldin staff members Oz Ozburn and Burrell Poe.
Burrell began with a brief summary of the genesis of the Peace Fellows, explaining that Goldin staff conducted extensive interviews with previous grantees of the Partnership to find out what they needed and how a curriculum could serve them. All of the Peace Fellows are previous grantees of the Partnership, and many have received current grants as well.
Each of the Fellows then took turns presenting different aspects of the program, interjecting their personal experiences and observations at appropriate moments along the way.
Maria described the strong sense of camaraderie among the Fellows, and extolled the practical benefits of collaboration and sharing:
[quote]I’m just so happy to be a part of this cohort, because it makes our communities strong. -- Maria Velazquez[/quote]
Robert explained that he was thrilled to discover that the Peace Fellows curriculum was focused on action, rather than theory, as well as accountability that came through honest collaboration and support. In his work as a pastor and organizer, Robert has participated in many different programs and fellowships, but he often lost interest as they proved impractical or didn’t sufficiently involve community residents. He remained highly involved with the Peace Fellows, however, because it provides access to places and people who would not be available otherwise. In particular, the curriculum has allowed him to continue the connections he established with young men in different stages of the criminal justice system beyond the short terms of the grants from the Partnership. He has even been able to build bridges between different groups working on violence-related issues from multiple angles and involve them in efforts to craft solutions.
[quote]Using the tools that GATHER has provided in the curriculum and also working with Peace Fellows, it has allowed me to take that moment and make it into a movement, to go from a place where we are doing community outreach to do community engagement, to be able to build the kind of relationships that provide long term sustainability for the efforts we are engaged in. -- Robert Biekman[/quote]
Robert continued, “GATHER has allowed me to create a community of practice with all of those who are directly impacted by the issues of our community, to gather us together to see what are the real key issues and most importantly to invite them to participate in making the changes that are necessary because those who are closest to the problem often have the best solutions.”
“So often, we do this work, and we do it by ourselves, and for me what this has provided is a watering hole where I’m able to go in the midst of all the other work we do in order to drink deeply with others who are doing the work we are doing. That gives us a personal sustainability to each of us.”
Gloria said that the individual Peace Fellows are all part of broader group of community-based organizations that often work together. She recently moved to Chicago after the death of her brother, Phillip Jackson, and took over as executive director of the organization he founded, the Black Star Project. She has hit the ground running, maintaining and even expanding partnerships and initiatives, and on one day, Gloria found that she had three commitments for the same day, so she asked another Peace Fellow, Velvian Boswell, to stand in for her. She was greatly appreciative for that level of support from the Peace Fellows.
[quote]“We’re all connected. We’re all a network of hope. -- Gloria Smith[/quote]
Pamela Butts echoed the sentiment that the collaboration with her peers – people with similar experiences in community work – has been extremely rewarding: “Peace Fellows has given us an opportunity to develop relationships, resources and opportunities we never dreamed of.”
[quote]These are folks who have been out there on the front lines for years just doing the work just because people have needs. -- Pamela Butts[/quote]
Jamila said she had participated in multiple fellowships and residencies, and wasn’t inclined to apply for another one, but when she received the e-mail from the Goldin Institute during a college tour with the girls in her program, she thought the Peace Fellows would be different. She was intrigued by the prospect of working with other organizers in Chicago:
[quote]I wanted to connect more with people on the ground. It’s hard to find that kind of learning community here in Chicago. -- Jamila Trimuel[/quote]
“I took a pause (to check out the Peace Fellows) because I realized for the first time I would be part of a fellowship program where there would be people who are on the ground who are from communities, who love Chicago like I love Chicago and who want to ensure that Chicago is a better place to live and to serve.”
Jamila recounted several emotional meetings, including one where the Peace Fellows advised the staff at the Field Museum of Natural History about the future presentation of an exhibit with a racist and colonialist past. On another group outing to a neighborhood, the Peace Fellows saw a police action, while across the street children were playing, a sad juxtaposition that reflected the realities for too many families in Chicago.
“We know we’re here to stay we’re here to make a true, lifelong difference in our communities and that’s what’s so special about Chicago Peace Fellows,” Jamila summed up.
Jacquelyn explained that the Peace Fellows had agreed on a set of guiding principles that were used to evaluate all proposals for summer projects, which would be supported by a fund assembled by the Goldin Institute. Among other principles, the group agreed the summer projects should promote peace, embrace new challenges and accountability, and include authentic community participation.
Ultimately, the group approved eight different projects, all of which incorporate multiple principles, ranging from information fairs to help ex-offenders expunge their records to a retreat for the Fellows to practice self-care and reflection.
“The projects are all very different. Collectively, they serve the entire city, are a great opportunity to show off what we’ve learned while we’re promoting peace and giving all of you guys the opportunity to partner with us,” Jacquelyn said.
Ladies of Virtue Recognize Youth Leadership
On Saturday, May 18, the Ladies of Virtue (LOV), founded and led by Chicago Peace Fellow Jamila Trimuel, hosted their 2019 Recognition Ceremony to honor high school and eighth grade graduates as they move on to the next chapter in the program.
[quote]"Our 8th Annual Recognition Ceremony is a time where our Ladies of Virtue sisters showcase their talent, share what they learned throughout the year, and express how they made a difference in their communities.” -- Jamila Trimuel, Ladies of Virtue[/quote]
“Over 150 of our dearest supporters - comprised of our LOV family and friends, sponsors and community partners - joined us to recognize all of our girl's wonderful accomplishments," Jamila explained.
The youngest of the mentees, affectionately named the Gems, are drawn from the 4th – 8th grades. When the ladies graduate from the 8th grade, they become high school mentees, affectionately named Queens, which continues from the 9th through 12th grades. High school graduates are encouraged to join the LOV 4 Life program for alumni and sometimes even move on to become mentors themselves.
The program opened with a welcome video from founder Jamila Trimuel in which she recognized the legacy of her former mentor, the Rev. Willie T. Barrow. The Rev. Barrow paved the way for Trimuel to follow, leading her down the path to her passion of mentoring. Trimuel also acknowledged the Chicago Foundation for Women for their recent $35,000 grant to LOV to help with operations.
Throughout the ceremony, mentees from the Gems and Queens groups showcased their talents in the form of spoken word, theatrical skits, and dance performances. They also shared what they learned throughout the year and recapped some of their favorite moments, including college tours, senior trips, and a professional etiquette luncheon they attended earlier this year.
LOV took extra care of their seniors during the recognition ceremony by gifting them with scholarships in excess of $5,000 and care packages full of items to get the ladies started on their college journeys. Most importantly, each high school graduate was personally recognized by her mentor in a very emotional farewell speech that should guide them through college and into their adulthood.
