Invited Speakers

Plenary Session

Luis Rodriguez

Mr. Luis Rodriguez is convinced that a writer can change the world. Through education and the power of words, Mr. Rodriguez saw his own way out of poverty and despair in the barrio of East Los Angeles and successfully broke free from the years he spent as an active gang member. Achieving success as an award-winning Chicano poet, he was sure the streets would haunt him no more—until his young son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in the bestseller Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., a vivid memoir that explores the motivation of gang life and cautions against the death and destruction that inevitably claim its participants.

Mr. Rodriguez is also known for helping start a number of prominent organizations—such as Chicago’s Guild Complex, one of the largest literary arts organizations in the Midwest; Rock A Mole Productions, which produces music and art festivals, CDs, and film; and Youth Struggling for Survival, a Chicago-based nonprofit community group working with gang and nongang youth. In addition, he is one of the founders of the small poetry publishing house Tia Chucha Press, as well as Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore—a bookstore, coffee shop, art gallery, performance space, and workshop center in Los Angeles.

Azim Khamisa

After his 20-year-old son Tariq was senselessly murdered in 1995 by Tony Hicks, a 14-year-old gang member, Mr. Khamisa founded the Tariq Khamisa Foundation. Believing that there were “victims at both ends of the gun,” Mr. Khamisa invited Mr. Ples Felix, Tony’s grandfather, to join him. Together, the duo has reached half a million elementary and middle-school children live and more than 20 million via video programs, guiding youth to choose nonviolence and forgiveness.

Reverend Jeffrey Carr

Reverend Carr is currently the Chief of Staff for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Reverend Carr was the driving force behind the creation of LA’s citywide gang violence reduction initiative and has spent the past 32 years working on youth development and social justice issues.

Workshop Speakers

Eileen Abrams, Ph.D.

Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Milwaukee, WI

True-See Allah

Boston Reentry Initiative, Boston, MA

Mark Bowen, Ph.D.

Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, Baltimore, MD

Reverend Jeffrey Brown

Boston TenPoint Coalition, Boston, MA

Meagan Cahill

Urban Institute, Washington, DC

Guillermo Cespedes

City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

William Curry

New Jersey State Parole Board, Trenton, NJ

Shea Daniels

Alaska Department of Juvenile Justice, Fairbanks, AK

Sergeant Joseph Del Pilar

Chicago Police Department, Chicago, IL

Finn-Aage Esbensen, Ph.D.

University of Missouri–St. Louis, MO

Bruce Ferrell

Midwest Gang Investigators Association, Omaha, NE

Sergeant John Ford

Boston Police Department, Boston, MA

Victor Gonzalez

Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office, Houston, TX

Jeff Greipp

National Witness Protection Center, Wauwatosa, WI

Mary Hatheway

Allegheny County Juvenile Probation, Pittsburgh, PA

Special Agent John Havens

Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York City, NY

Karen Hennigan, Ph.D.

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

James C. “Buddy” Howell

National Gang Center, Pinehurst, NC

Errika Fearbry Jones

Pittsburgh Public Schools, Pittsburgh, PA

Candice Kane, Ph.D.

CeaseFire, Chicago Project for Violence Protection, Chicago, IL

John Klofas, Ph.D.

Center for Public Safety Initiatives, Rochester, NY

Donald Kodluboy (retired)

Minneapolis Public Schools, Minneapolis, MN

Senior Special Agent Mark Kraft

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington, DC

Vinko Kucinic

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Columbus, OH

Inspector Michael Martin

Minneapolis Police Department, Minneapolis, MN

James McDougal

Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Los Angeles, CA

Debra McKenzie

Fresno Gang Task Force, Fresno, CA

Deputy Chief Kelly McMillin

Salinas Police Department, Salinas, CA

Leticia Medina

Colors of Success, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT

Mark Prisco

West Roxbury District Court, Boston, MA

Caterina Roman, Ph.D.

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Wayne Sakamoto

Murietta Valley Unified School District, Riverside, CA

Ron Schweer

U.S. Probation Office, Kansas City, MO

David Starbuck

National Drug Intelligence Center, Kansas City, MO

Daryl Thiesen

Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Bakersfield, CA

Robert Thornton

Community Corrections Institute, Springdale, WA

Whitney Tymas, J.D.

National District Attorneys Association, Alexandria, VA

Al Valdez, Ph.D.

University of California–Irvine, Irvine, CA

Adam Valencia

Tulare County Office of Education, Visalia, CA

Sean Varano, Ph.D.

Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI

Angela Wolf, Ph.D.

National Center on Crime and Delinquency, Oakland, CA