A Message from the President
Jack Calhoun, President
John “Jack”Calhoun is president and CEO of Hope Matters. Mr. Calhoun has dedicated his life’s work to improving the lives of children and families and the communities in which they live. He was President of Justice Resource Institute, served as Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services in Massachusetts and the U.S. Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families. In 2007, under the aegis of the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, Mr. Calhoun designed the California Cities Violence Prevention Network (CCVPN)—a 14-city initiative that seeks to foster development and implementation of comprehensive citywide anti-violence plans combining prevention, intervention, enforcement, and reentry. He currently serves as the Network’s President and played a seminal role in the creation and management of the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention (NFYVP). In 2010, Attorney General Eric Holder launched NFYVP, for which CCVPN was the model.
"Violence harms individuals, families and entire communities."
The violence must be stopped. Yet no violence prevention strategy will succeed if focused on enforcement alone. Single solutions, if they work at all, work only temporarily. Thus enforcement strategies must be intricately linked to building community vitality and resilience. Violence occurs in a context that includes family dynamics, education, job availability, the isolation of individuals and easy access to guns.
This means a jurisdiction must pledge to a comprehensive action plan that blends prevention, intervention, reentry and enforcement. To produce such a plan takes both hard work and time. It necessitates strong, consistent leadership that has the authority to convene and hold accountable action pledges made by key governmental and civic partners. It necessitates close law enforcement/service provider cooperation, the sharing of data, specific commitments from each partner, a means to track the work, make changes where necessary and celebrate successes.
Plans that work range widely from “violence interrupters” working on the street at 1:00 a.m. pre-school education, mentoring, “hot spot policing,” to suggested policy changes on the local, county, state or even federal levels.
Ultimately, this approach must not be view as a program. It is, quite simply, a new way of doing business.
Cities that have done this work well, have embedded it in policy and practice and will not return to the old way of addressing violence.
Jack Calhoun, July 3, 2018
Board of Directors
Mario Maciel, Vice President
Mario Maciel directs the City of San Jose’s Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force. Mario Maciel has provided critical technical assistance for sister cities in California, across the nation and internationally. Through his leadership the Youth Intervention Programs and Services of the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force, have been able to incorporate innovative approaches to working with high-risk, gang-impacted and gang-involved youth and young adults.
Karen Weeks, Secretary/Treasurer
Karen Weeks is the retired Administrative Services Officer for the Santa Rosa Police Department overseeing the department’s budget, facilities management, and the recruitment, testing and hiring processes. She has a background in housing and economic development. Karen currently is Vice-Chair of the Santa Rosa Planning Commission, and has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity Sonoma County and other community organizations.
Socorro Shiels, Board Member
Socorro Shiels is the Superintendent of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District. She has over 20 years of public education experience at the administrative and classroom level. She previously served as Superintendent of the Santa Rosa City School District where she led a district culture shift to restorative justice for the entire school community as well as creating a strategic plan that included all community stakeholders with a commitment to college and career readiness for each student.
José Arreola, Board Member
José Arreola is the Community Safety Administrator and the Director of the Community Alliance for Safety and Peace in the City of Salinas. José directs the implementation of the City’s Strategic Work Plan on Violence Reduction. In his leadership role José represents the City of Salinas on the California Cities Violence Prevention Network and The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention. José has a background in education and in 2000 was a founding staff member of Downtown College Preparatory (DCP), the first Charter High School in the City of San José and County of Santa Clara.
Grace Magistrale Hoffman, Board Member
Grace Hoffman retired as Deputy City Manager for the City of Oxnard where she was instrumental in the development of the successful city-county collaborative, the Oxnard Alliance for Community Strength. Grace led the effort to develop Oxnard’s comprehensive community action plan, the SAFETY Blueprint, the result of a citywide process that engaging community stakeholders. Grace also oversaw the Office of Youth Safety, Homeless Outreach Services, the Youth Commission, Public Information Office, and Neighborhood Councils and Services.
CCVPN Executive Director
Ernesto Olivares, Executive Director
Ernesto is a Council Member and former Mayor of Santa Rosa, CA. He has over 30 years of law enforcement experience including 11 years of experience developing and implementing youth and gang violence prevention strategies. He has given presentations on topics including gang violence prevention, building safe communities, strengthening relationships between law and enforcement and the communities they serve, and reducing gun violence.