David M. Kennedy has spent much of the last 25 years on the ground in the country’s most dangerous neighborhoods, working with communities to find solutions to crime. The director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control and a professor of criminal justice at John Jay College, Kennedy has received two Webber Seavey awards from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, two Innovations in American Government awards from the Kennedy School of Government, and a Herman Goldstein Problem-Oriented Policing Award. His work has been used as a model or source for safety and drug intervention initiatives by the Clinton and Bush administrations, and by the Bureau of Justice. He also tours regularly to speak to groups that have included U.S. Congress, Scotland Yard, the National District Attorneys’ Association, and the National Conference of Mayors. Kennedy lives in Brooklyn, New York.

http://goo.gl/qcf2H - Interview and review of book.

Jake Jacobs – Facilitator

Why do some organizations work and others don’t? Jake Jacobs has been curious about that question since his first real job on the assembly line of an ice cream plant and tending bar in college. Jake has worked with some of the largest corporations in the world including American Express, Corning, Ford, The Home Depot, Marriott, Mobil, and Price Waterhouse Coopers. He has also facilitated major change efforts with the City of New York, the U.S. National Forest Service and Environmental Protection Agency and the United Kingdom‚s National Health and Employment Services. In addition to his blog, he has written articles for Strategy and Leadership, Executive Excellence, Leader to Leader, Strategic HR Review, and Consulting to Management. He is the author and co-author of six books including: Real Time Strategic Change and You Don’t Have To Do It Alone.

“God, It’s Got to Stop” One Man’s Quest to End Gang Violence In America.

(It’s) simple – have law enforcement, community elders, and social service providers sit down and talk with the gangs and drug crews that drove the shooting. The community said that the violence had to stop, the providers offered help, and the cops promised that the first gang that killed someone after the meeting was going to get all their attention.

Those are the words of David Kennedy, adapted from Don’t Shoot; One Man. A Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America.

Cincinnati, a city that’s stuck with David’s direct dialogue Ceasefire program, has cut gang homicides by 41% over a four-year period. That’s a big change in a tough environment, a place where violence leads to more violence, one gang responding to another with no end in sight.

This approach to change works. The numbers speak for themselves. I called David to learn more and asked him to join me in convening a conversation; “Lessons About Sustainable Change: Ending Gang Violence in America.”