This session will explore collaborations between researchers and practitioners working in community-based violence intervention, highlighting lessons learned and opportunities for shared impact.

Panelists:

• Teny Oded Gross, founder and CEO of Institute for Nonviolence Chicago 

• Andrew V. Papachristos, Professor of Sociology and the Faculty Director of CORNERS: the Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science at Northwestern University 

• Sam Castro, Chicago Community Violence Intervention (CVI) Worker This session will explore collaborations between researchers and practitioners working in community-based violence intervention, highlighting lessons learned and opportunities for shared impact.

Solidarities in Action:
The Notebook Volume 2

Throughout the Spring 2026 semester, The Justice Collaboratory will spotlight the transformative power of partnerships through conversations with The Notebook’s contributors. Panelists will share lived experiences, research insights, and on-the-ground strategies that illuminate how solidarities take root in addressing some of the nation’s most imminent threats to safety and justice today.  

Join us as we explore the people, the work, and the practices that lift our energy and bring us together. 

February 26, 1:00 pm ET

Community Violence Intervention: Building Data & Relationships 

Panelists:

• Sam Castro, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnership, Institute for Nonviolence Chicago

• Teny Oded Gross, founder and CEO of Institute for Nonviolence Chica

• Andrew V. Papachristos, Professor of Sociology and the Faculty Director of CORNERS: the Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science at Northwestern University

 This session will explore partnerships between researchers and street outreach workers as they collaborate to address gun violence, highlighting lessons learned, opportunities for solidarity and reasons for hope.

March 24, 1:00 pm ET

Safer, Stronger, Together: Building Safe & Connected Communities

 Panelists:

• Vinny Schiraldi, former Maryland Secretary of Juvenile Services

• Seema Gajwani, Executive Director of Maryland’s Safer Stronger Together

The Founders of Maryland’s Safer, Stronger, Together initiative will share insights on leveraging interagency collaboration and Community Action Boards (CAB) to reduce crime and improve outcomes for Maryland youth. 

 April 23, 1:00 pm ET

Carceral by Another Name: Reforming Civil Commitment

Panelists:

• Marisol Orihuela, Clinical Professor at Yale Law School and Director of the Mental Health Justice Clinic

• Kristin Lummus, former public defender and legal educator with expertise in mental health law

 This session will examine the legal, ethical, and human impact of carceral civil commitment practices and explore pathways toward reform grounded in solidarity and care.

May 19, 1:00 ET

Using Narrative to Move Policy

Panelists:

• David Gaspar, The Bail Project CEO

• Jenny Espinoza, Back to the Start CEO

 This conversation will offer strategies for collecting and leveraging powerful stories that shift public understanding and influence policy change, particularly within justice reform movements.

About the Notebook

 The Notebook, a cross between a popular magazine and academic journal, blends the perspectives of academic research and lived experience using writing, visual art, and interdisciplinary exchange to examine themes of safety, justice, and solidarity.

Volume 2 explores solidarities: the connections we build, the collective actions we take, and the communities we nurture across geographies, struggles, and imaginations to build a more just legal system.