Community Partner Spotlight: Institute for Nonviolence Chicago

Mission

Our mission is to end the cycle of violence in Chicago.

CEO/President

Teny is the founder of the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago bringing 30 years of experience in conflict mediation and violence reduction. His leadership and contributions to national violence reduction efforts demonstrate a commitment to peace. Teny’s extensive background as an outreach worker underscore his dedication to promoting Nonviolence principles.

Teny has been featured as a speaker at the University of Chicago, Brown, Harvard, Yale, Boston University, as well as the Dept of Justice and The White House. He’s also received awards such as the Institute of Global Leadership Alumni Award from Tufts University.

Services Offered

Guided by Dr. King’s principles, practices, and teachings of nonviolence, we connect to individuals at highest risk of shooting or being shot and offer conflict mediation, victim advocacy, case management, nonviolence training, workforce development and behavioral health and wellness services.

These methods help us work to reduce shootings, guide people involved in violence through their journey away from it, empower and nurture communities in the aftermath of violence, and mediate positive interactions between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

Current Projects

We’ve been focusing our efforts in some of Chicago’s neighborhoods most affected by violence—Austin, Back of the Yards, West Garfield Park, and portions of Brighton Park. And it’s getting measurable results, changing lives, and giving people hope again.

We’re preparing to serve as the Austin Hub leader with 10 other agencies for the Scaling CVI for a Safer Chicago initiative (SC2), collaborating at “one table” to scale (community violence intervention) CVI in the Chicago neighborhoods most impacted by violence.

Organizational impact to the community

Impact in 2023:

• Served 922 individuals with outreach, victim advocacy, workforce and behavior health services
• Responded 391 shootings, showing up to 97% of scenes within 60 minutes
• 99% reentry services participants remained out of jail
• 66% of staff trained in Cognitive Behavioral Intervention (CBI) & Trauma-informed Care (TIC) to model & teach appropriate responses to trauma and self-care
• 432 participants completed Nonviolence, CBI and TIC trainings

Funding Sources

64% Gov, 34% Corp/Foundation, 2% Individuals Including, not limited to: Chicago Dept. of Public Health, IL Criminal Justice Information Authority, IL Dept. of Human Services, Cook County Justice Advisory Council, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Boeing, Blue Cross Blue Shield, MacArthur Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Chicago Beyond, and McCormick Foundation

This spotlight is part of the Healthy City Collaborative, a program within the UIC Office of Community Engagement And Neighborhood Health Partnerships.

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