Chico Tillmon: Chautauqua Institution Lecture Series
Route 394, Chautauqua, NY 14722
Chico Tillmon is the executive director of the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago Crime Lab, the first CVI training program designed to elevate the leadership capacity of leaders who oversee community-based organizations, offices of violence prevention, hospital violence intervention, and other components of the CVI ecosystem working tirelessly to quell violence in vulnerable communities. He joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series during a week on “Our Greatest Challenges (That We Can Actually Do Something About)” to share stories of success and learning from his work with the CVI Leadership Academy, and throughout his career, to effect positive change at a systemic level.
Tillmon joined the University of Chicago Crime Lab after working at Heartland Alliance as executive director of READI National Center for Safer Communities, a national technical assistance provider that provides capacity building and training for cities and communities throughout the United States. Tillmon is also a violence-prevention expert who serves on the leadership team of the Black and Brown Peace Consortium, the collaborative that led the Fund Peace initiative. The former executive director of the YMCA of Metro Chicago’s Youth Safety and Violence Prevention programs, he is a leading national consultant and training and technical assistance provider on violence prevention, re-entry, and nonprofits.
System-impacted, Tillmon came home with the purpose of trying to change his community in a positive way. He works with youth, young adults, and direct service providers in marginalized areas to help them hone their professional skills and improve their work performance, and has worked over a decade in violence prevention, mental health, and re-entry. In 2021, Tillmon was recognized by President Joe Biden for his national violence prevention work and invited to the White House.