Cure Violence Global History

Cure Violence Global helps communities to implement violence prevention programs that are effective in significantly reducing violence. Founded by Gary Slutkin, M.D., former head of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Intervention Development Unit, Cure Violence Global™ launched in West Garfield Park, one of the most violent communities in Chicago, and was quick to produce results, reducing shootings by 67% in its first year.

From 2000-2008, Cure Violence Global focused its activities in the United States, quickly expanding to Baltimore, New York, New Orleans, Oakland, Loiza, Puerto Rico and other sites.

In 2008, Cure Violence Global began its first international adaptation and replication of the methodology in Basra and Sadr City, Iraq.  Since then, international programs have been added in Canada (Halifax and Alberta), Colombia (Cali), El Salvador (San Salvador and San Pedro Mazawal), Honduras (San Pedro Sula), Jamaica (St. Catherine North and St. James), Kenya (Nairobi and Rift valley), Mexico (Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua City), South Africa (Hanover Park), Syria (western and northern), Trinidad & Tobago (Port of Spain), and United Kingdom (London).  Cure Violence Global™ has also provided training in violence prevention techniques to representatives from dozens of other countries.

Several Cure Violence program sites have been externally evaluated, demonstrating strong results in multiple sites.  In June 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. referenced Cure Violence™ as  a “rational, data-driven, evidence-based, and smart approach to crime.” The Economist termed the Cure Violence™ method “the approach that will come to prominence.”

A World Without Violence

Cure Violence Global® is guided by the understanding that violence is a health issue, that individuals and communities can transform themselves, and that community partners and strategic partnerships are keys to success. Through a rigorous, scientific, and data-driven approach, Cure Violence Global™ helps communities to implement violence prevention programs that are effective in significantly reducing violence.

Our Mission: To reduce violence globally using disease control and behavior change methods.

See Our Impact

Cure Violence Global is Ranked #9 NGO in the World by NGO Advisor

NGO Advisor searches around the world to choose a list of the top 200 NGOs in the world.  For the past 3 years, Cure Violence Global™ has been ranked in the top 10 of all NGOs globally, first in organizations dedicated to reducing violence.

Our Vision

Violence behaves like a contagious problem. It is transmitted through exposure, acquired through contagious brain mechanisms and social processes, and it can be effectively prevented and treated using health methods. To date, the health sector and health professionals have been highly underutilized for the prevention, treatment, and control of violence.

Shifting the Paradigm: Now is the time to mobilize our nation’s public health and healthcare systems and to utilize health methods to work with communities and other sectors to stop this epidemic.

Support Cure Violence™

”Violence interrupters are essential to helping calm the streets; they’re essential to helping keep the violence down; they’re essential to supporting our communities… My office is proud to support the Cure Violence model

Karl RacineAttorney General for the District of Columbia

Support Cure Violence

Cure Violence Global is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Donations are tax-deductible.

Donate Today

CVG Staff

Cure Violence Global Staff

Mohammed Alshurafa

Program Officer, Middle East and Africa

Mohammed Alshurafa is responsible for the creation, oversight, and implementation of programming activities in the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Cure Violence Global in 2020, Mr. Alshurafa spent over five years in the Gaza Strip designing and implementing humanitarian assistance and youth engagement programs serving at The American Friends Service Committee, U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs, and others. Mohammed is a Rotary Peace Fellow at the University of Bradford, MA Peacebuilding & Conflict Resolution.

Lupe Cruz

Guadalupe Cruz

Director, Latin America Programs

Guadalupe Cruz serves as the Director of Training for Latin and Central America, and has been a key member of the Cure Violence team since 2009, starting as a Violence Interrupter and later a site supervisor in Chicago. She is responsible for overseeing implementation, training, and technical assistance of the Cure Violence model in South Africa, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Colombia.

Brent Decker, Chief Program Officer

R. Brent Decker

Chief Program Officer

Brent Decker serves as Chief Program Officer for CVG, where he is responsible for overseeing all local, national, and international program implementation, oversight and curation of training for the entire Cure Violence ecosystem, and collaboratively setting and steering the strategic direction of the organization. Before joining Cure Violence, Mr. Decker worked on a number of social justice and community health projects in Latin America. Mr. Decker earned a masters degree in public health from Tulane University.

Dr. Charles N. Elliott, Ph.D

Director of Data Management

Charles Elliott serves as the Director of Data Management at CVG. He is responsible for the CVG database, including data collection. reports, assessments, and training. Charles completed a PhD in International Conflict Management and a MS in Conflict Management in Atlanta, Georgia and holds over 15 years' experience in data science, working with nonprofit or community organizations to reduce or interrupt violence. Charles also has served seven years (active duty) in the US Air Force, awarded both the Iraqi Freedom and Global War on Terror (Afghanistan) campaign service medals.

Lourdes Henriquez

Program Implementation Specialist

Lourdes Henriquez serves as a Program Implementation Specialist on the CVG Latin America team, where she has worked in Honduras, Mexico, and Colombia. Pastor Henriquez is a native of Honduras and is a pastor at the Cristo es la Roca Church in Chamelecon, Honduras, where she was active in violence prevention and community building, and helped to implement the first Cure Violence site in Honduras.

Takisha Keys

Director of Human Resources

Takisha Keys is CVG’s Director of Human Resources. Ms. Keys has worked in human resources for more than 16 years, specializing in putting in place human resource infrastructures, including talent recruitment, hiring, coaching, and retention programs; comprehensive benefit programs; employee policies and procedures; and employee training programs. She is responsible for all aspects of CVG’s human resources department. Prior to joining CVG, Ms. Keys was the North American Director of Operations and Human Resources for an international manufacturing company.

Jeryl Levin

Senior Advisor, Philanthropy

Jeryl Levin serves as a Senior Advisor for CVG. Ms. Levin has worked for more than two decades leading development and fundraising efforts for national and international organizations in the social justice and public policy space. She has developed fundraising operations for small NPOs, building infrastructure and significantly increasing their base of support, as well as larger organizations where she has trained and led teams to more fully realize potential across multiple funding streams. In addition, Jeryl has produced and published several books on race and ethnicity, working with scholars and community leaders across Chicago to help others better understand the rich and diverse tapestry of the city.

Jarmain Merritt

Program Implementation Specialist

Jarmain Merritt serves as a Program Implementation Specialist on the CVG US team, where he provides training and technical assistance to communities that are implementing the Cure Violence Approach. Mr. Merritt has provided training to more than 100 Program Managers, Directors, Outreach Workers, Community-Based Organizations and Violence Interrupters across the US and in Trinidad and Tobago.

Cassandra Paschall

Senior Research Associate and Project Manager

Cassandra Paschall serves as a Research Assistant at Cure Violence Global. She graduated from American University in 2019 with a BA in International Relations and a Minor in Religious Studies. She has worked on several projects including researching correlations between violence and COVID, responding to inquiries from various stakeholders, and developing training material. She also assists with social media, grant writing, and event planning.

Charlie Ransford

Senior Director of Science and Policy and Interim Director of Communications

Charlie Ransford serves as the Director of Science and Policy as well as the Director of Communications for CVG. Mr. Ransford is responsible for all communications, public relations, and federal policy for CVG, and additionally leads on online trainings, publications, and research related to the Cure Violence approach. Mr. Ransford earned a masters of public policy from the University of Chicago.

Danielle Russell

Executive Assistant and Office Manager

Danielle Russell is CVG’s Executive Assistant and Office Manager. In this capacity she provides essential support to the entire organization. Prior to joining CVG, she served as Executive Assistant to the CEO of a Michigan school district, Executive Assistant to the EVP & Controller of an oil company. Prior to that she spent five years working in the financial industry. Ms. Russell holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Robert Morris University.

Frank Sanchez

Frankie Sanchez

Program Implementation Specialist

Frankie Sanchez serves as an international trainer at Cure Violence Global, responsible for building and guiding programs throughout Latin America including in Mexico, Honduras, Argentina and El Salvador, and in partnership with organizations such as Save The Children, USAID, the World Bank and others.

Micky Scheffki

Interim Chief Financial Officer

Mickey Scheffki serves as CVG’s Interim Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Scheffki has over 30 years of experience working in the accounting/finance profession, primarily focused on serving nonprofit organizations. Her experience includes auditing, tax, design and implementation of accounting and financial management systems, grants management/compliance and reporting, as well as budgeting, forecasting and cash flow management. She is a licensed CPA (Illinois), holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Roosevelt University, and has served as board member of several nonprofit and professional organizations. A retired partner of a national CPA firm, she now focuses her time serving as CVG’s Interim CFO, where she shares responsibilities for all financial, compliance and accounting operations for the organization.

Nicole Vaughn

Program Implementation Specialist

Kenyatta "Nicole" Vaughn serves as a Program Coordinator for Cure Violence and is responsible for helping cities to implement the Cure Violence approach. She is the former Director of the Cure Violence site in Chicago’s Englewood community, where she has been a longtime community leader, co-founding the non-profit We R Englewood and restoring the historic Englewood Back to School Parade. Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from DePaul University and a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management from Keller Graduate School of Management.

Susan Westbrook

Susan Westbrook

Accounting Manager

Susan Westbrook is CVG’s Accounting Manager. Ms. Westbrook is a licensed CPA (Illinois) and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington. Prior to joining CVG, she held staff positions at several nonprofit organizations. At CVG, she is responsible for monitoring and recording the day-to-day accounting transactions in accordance with agency policies and procedures.

Demeatreas Whatley

Program Implementation Specialist

Demeatreas Whatley serves as a Program Specialist on the CVG US team where he helps cities to implement the Cure Violence approach. Mr. Whatleyformerly served as the Director of the Cure Violence site in Chicago’s Grand Crossing community, where he led a team of 11 violence interrupters and four outreach workers that significantly reduced violence in their community. Previous to that, Mr. Whatley served as a CVG violence interrupter for nine years, mediating more than 100 conflicts and saving dozens of lives. Mr. Whatley earned a masters degree in social work from the University of Chicago where he was an Obama Scholar.

Cobe Williams

Director, US Programs

Ricardo “Cobe” Williams serves as Director of US Programs for CVG, where he oversees training and technical assistance for more than 50 sites across more than 20 cities. Mr. Williams began his career as a violence interrupter in Englewood on Chicago’s south side. His work as an interrupter was chronicled in the 2011 award-winning film “The Interrupters” which was selected by The New Yorker magazine, Chicago Tribune, Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times as one of the best films of 2011. Mr. Williams received the “Hero Award” from former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.

Dr. Monique Williams

Executive Director

Dr. Williams is the Executive Director of Cure Violence Global, leading the organization through significant growth and international expansion. Previously, Dr. Williams was the Director of the Louisville Mayor’s Office for Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods, where she oversaw the development and execution of the city’s strategic plan for reducing violence, including its implementation of the Cure Violence approach. She has also led the University of Louisville’s National Center of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention, one of five centers designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to advance the science and practice of youth violence prevention.

Daria Zvetina, M.Ed

Chief of Staff

Daria Zvetina is CVG’s Chief of Staff. In this capacity, she is responsible for overseeing office management, human resources, finance, and grants and contracts departments. Prior to assuming this role, Ms. Zvetina was Cure Violence's Director of Strategy and Grants. Before joining Cure Violence, she spent more than 20 years as an independent consultant providing program and systems design and implementation consultation and government and foundation proposal development, research, writing, editing and technical assistance to local, state, and national nonprofit and government agencies. She holds a master’s degree in educational psychology from Arizona State University.

CVG Board

Jeremy Kaufman

CVG Board Chair, Chief Executive Officer of Kaufman Jacobs

Jeremy Kaufman serves as Chief Executive Officer of Kaufman Jacobs, a leading real estate development firm that pursues capital protection and appreciation through the acquisition of undervalued commercial real estate, with emphasis on General Services Administration (GSA) leased assets and complex situations. The firm has a proud tradition of exceptional investment management over its nearly seven-decade history, and has owned and managed tens of millions of square feet of commercial real estate across each of the major asset classes. In this role Jeremy is responsible for the firm’s overall direction and leadership and also heads the firm’s investment activities, including acquisitions, transaction structuring, and investor relations.

Dr. Gary Slutkin

Founder, Cure Violence Global; Chair of Strategy Development; Former Director of Intervention Development, World Health Organization

Gary Slutkin is founder, former CEO of Cure Violence Global and credited with innovating the epidemic control approach to violence prevention. Gary is a physician and epidemiologist and has led efforts to combat epidemics of tuberculosis, cholera and AIDS. He worked in over 25 countries in east and central Africa, Latin America and Asia, consulted on SARS and Ebola, was the Director of Intervention for the World Health Organization and is currently tracking and advising governments on COVID19.

Dr. Gary Slutkin CV

Dr. Susan Lynn Bissell

Senior Fellow, FXB Centre for Health & Human Rights, T.H. Chan School of Public Health of Harvard University

Dr. Susan Lynn Bissell for 27 years for UNICEF in roles that stretched from the UN HQ in NY to many years spent abroad, principally in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India, focusing primarily on child welfare, protection and life-enrichment. Most recently she was the Founding Director of the Global Partnership to end Violence Against Children, which she ran for two years. For the six years prior to that, Susan was UNICEF’s Chief of Child Protection. In this role she provided leadership and strategic direction for UNICEF’s global Child Protection programs which spanned the organizational mandate in situations of armed conflict and natural disaster, as well as in development contexts. Among the ‘issues’ covered were children and armed conflict, justice for children, child labor, inter-country adoption, child trafficking, small arms and land mines, and violence in its broadest definition. To accomplish this Susan’s team of 35 professionals utilized a $500M budget to provide technical support to UNICEF’s more than 150 field offices.

Dr. Eric Goosby

Biden Coronavirus Task Force Member

Dr. Eric Goosby is an internationally recognized expert on infectious diseases who has participated in program and policy development at the highest levels of government. He was the founding director of the Ryan White CARE Act in 1991 and subsequently served in the Clinton Administration to expand the program considerably. As Global AIDS Coordinator under President Barack Obama, he was responsible for implementing the President's emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Eric currently serves as the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Tuberculosis. He is an elected member of the National Academy and currently serves as Director of the UCSF Center for Implementation Sciences. He has served as a mentor to countless mentees in areas of policy and advocacy for millions of patients living with HIV and other infectious diseases. Professor, School of Medicine. He is also the Director, Center for Implementation Sciences, a University of California, San Francisco Global Health Sciences Member, and a member of the CFAR Scientific Council.

David Kanis, PhD

Professor Emeritus at Chicago State University

Dr. David Kanis is professor emeritus at Chicago State University, where he served as Associate Vice President of Grants and Research Administration, Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Kanis is a Fulbright Scholar and a highly regarded professor who has spent his career making higher education accessible to people of diverse backgrounds. In 2022, Dr. Kanis led the opening of the Dr. David Kanis Child Development Center, an educational childcare program at the University.

Scott Lassar

Senior Counsel, Sidley Austin; Former US Attorney (Chicago)

Scott Lassar is senior counsel in the Chicago office of Sidley, one of the world’s leading law firms. Prior to joining the firm, Scott was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. Scott’s practice involves all aspects of white collar criminal defense, including price fixing, anti-bribery, securities fraud, insider trading, environmental crimes, tax fraud, and healthcare fraud. Scott also has conducted over 40 investigations for public and private companies. Scott has tried over 45 cases in federal court as a prosecutor and in private practice, including trials involving price fixing, healthcare fraud, securities fraud, securities and commodity trading, accountant’s liability, trade secrets, and federal criminal violations. Scott serves on the American Bar Association / Department of Justice Dialogue Group, which meets regularly with the Attorney General on white collar crime issues, and he also serves as an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association, as well as being a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Tracie McClendon-Cole

Deputy Director, Kansas City Department of Public Health

Tracie McClendon-Cole is Deputy Director of Health for the City of Kansas City, Missouri. As such, she is responsible for overseeing regulatory programs for a large, metropolitan health department; planning and coordinating department administrative activities (human resources, building maintenance and budget/fiscal); working with department managers that direct nearly 200 employees in a number of health-related professional disciplines: including public affairs, disease prevention and emergency preparedness services, environmental services, maternal-child health, community-family outreach and education. In addition, she monitors legislative activities affecting public health programs. Furthermore, she works to enhance the Department’s ability to address emerging issues impacting cultural diversity, health inequities in vulnerable communities, including; the economic impact of reduced public health funding, as well as continuing to foster violence prevention efforts and improve departmental relationships with community and civic partners.

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad

Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and the Radcliffe Institute

Khalil Gibran Muhammad is professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the Suzanne Young Murray Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. He is the former Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library and the world’s leading library and archive of global black history. Before leading the Schomburg Center, Khalil was an associate professor at Indiana University. Khalil’s scholarship examines the broad intersections of race, democracy, inequality and criminal justice in modern U.S. History. He is co-editor of “Constructing the Carceral State,” a special issue of the Journal of American History, and contributor to a National Research Council study, The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences (2014), as well as the author of The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, which won the 2011 John Hope Franklin Best Book award in American Studies.

Seanne Murray, JD

Founder and CEO of Attain 9, Inc.

Ms. Murray is the founder and CEO of Attain 9, Inc., a consulting and production company that works with companies and individuals in strategic planning, high value partnerships, and business development. Ms. Murray has consulted with a wide array of clients, including client in private equity, technology, fine art, and entertainment. Her projects have included superstars such as Smokey Robinson, Ray Lewis, Larry King, George Lopez, and Rosanna Arquette. Ms. Murray launched a social enterprise, Stop All Violence, to connect influence, capital, and expertise to promote peace in the world.

Dan Ratner

Founder, Public Good

Dan Ratner is an entrepreneur, technologist, and writer who is passionate about using technology to make the world a better place by empowering everyone to make a difference. He’s co-founder and CEO of Public Good, the leader in connecting the news with actions people can take to make a change in the world. Dan loves explaining technical topics to nontechnical audiences and his writing has been published globally in six languages, in outlets ranging from USA Today to The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Dan is the co-author of two books on nanotechnology, a white paper on the importance of social causes to brands, two peer-reviewed papers on machine learning, and he’s flying solo on an upcoming thriller novel about Marco Polo. Dan is also a board member of Open Books. Previously, he was the Director of Technology at Obama for America 2012 and CTO of Sittercity, America’s first and largest service dedicated to finding quality care online.

Dr. Rima Salah

Professor, Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine

Dr. Rima Salah is a faculty member at the Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine and holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology (SUNY-Binghamton). She is former Member of the United Nations High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations. As former Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, U.N. Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), Dr. Salah has had a distinguished career with UNICEF. She was the Deputy Executive Director for External Relations in UNICEF (2011-12) and Deputy Executive Director (2004-07). She was also the UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa (1999-2004) and in this capacity was responsible for all UNICEF operations in that region. Dr. Salah also served as UNICEF representative in a number of countries including Vietnam, Burkina Faso as well head of office in Queta, Pakistan.

Employment

Cure Violence Global has two opportunities available:

  • The Director of Development position will implement a strategic approach to securing resources from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government entities to ensure the growth and sustainability of CVG.
  • The Director of Finance position will be responsible for maximizing the return on financial assets, ensuring legal and regulatory compliance, and overseeing all accounts receivable/collection and risk management.

Competitive benefits package available for all full-time employees.

CVG is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of all races, ethnicities, religions, genders, gender identities, and sexual orientations.

Apply Online

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If you are interested in applying for a position with CVG, please include a resume.
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Please include any other documents relevant to the position you are applying. For Director of Communications, we strongly recommend including two to three writing samples.

Internships

Cure Violence Global™ will be accepting applicants for internships for the fall of 2023.Preference will be given to students currently enrolled in advanced degree programs.

Your Details

Position Details

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If you are interested in applying for an internship now, please include a resume and cover letter.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Cure Violence Global Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At Cure Violence Global, we strive to promote human dignity, the common good, and community-led action as essential components of our health-based approach to eradicating violence around the world.

We recognize that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), as well as queer (LGBTQ+), disabled, and otherwise marginalized communities are more likely to experience violence as a result of systemic injustice. Our work seeks to prevent violence and pave the way for social and economic rebuilding.

CVG is committed to honoring everyone’s dignity with equitable and inclusive hiring and operational practices. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants of all nationalities, races, ethnicities, religions, gender identities, sexual orientations, socio-economic backgrounds, and mental and physical disabilities. CVG encourages applicants who bring work or lived experience in low- and middle-income communities or countries, as well as the perspectives of communities experiencing violence.

The contagious nature of violence requires collaborative efforts in its prevention and treatment. In the course of our work, CVG has learned that safety from violence is an issue worldwide, and that effectively reducing violence and transforming communities will benefit the common good. We believe that investing in health-based violence prevention is essential to reducing inequity.

One of the key tenets of our model is that the people within communities most directly impacted by violence are the ones best suited to address it. Community-led action means that we understand our position as supportive agents of violence reduction and that we act in solidarity with credible messengers to share our public health approach, resources, and implementation strategies with local organizations who can mobilize to stop violence.

Consistent with our policies, procedures, protocol, and handbooks, Cure Violence Global views diversity, equity, and inclusion as critical components of CVG’s mission to reduce violence globally using disease control and behavior change methods. We envision a world in which equitable, health-based methods are at the center of violence prevention everywhere around the world.

Cure Violence Trademark

“”Cure Violence” and “Cure Violence Global” are exclusive Trademarks of the organization Cure Violence Global. Any use of the terms “Cure Violence” or “Cure Violence Global” without the express written consent of Cure Violence Global is strictly prohibited by law.”

A Few of Our Partners

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