2025 Chicago Peace Fellows
The Goldin Institute invites you to learn about each of our 2025 Chicago Peace Fellows representing 14 community areas across the city. Â Founded in 2019 in collaboration with the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, the Chicago Peace Fellows program is the only leadership development program that is built by and for grassroots community leaders on the South and West sides of Chicago.
Overview
Peace Fellows participate in GATHER, an online asset-based community engagement course, as well as in-person training, collaborative action projects, and networking experiences with civic leaders, academic researchers, and policy makers. The Chicago Peace Fellows reduce violence by building relationships, engaging youth, implementing collaborative peace building projects over the summer and by creating new networks among residents, families, schools, and nonprofit organizations.
Meet the 2025 Chicago Peace Fellows
Aaliyah Phillips
CEO, Vessels Being Restored
Andrea Guzman
Senior Program Manager, Plant Chicago
Bobby Price
Founder and Director, Lawndale People / Principle Barbers
Cecilia Vazquez
Program Manager, Port Ministries
Christina Rice
Executive Director, Global Girls Inc
Crystal Dyer
Founder and Executive Director, Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures
Cynthia Olivares
Community Organizer, Increase The Peace Chicago
Daniel Davenport III
Founder and Executive Director, Global Love Organization
Darius Caffey
Director of Institutional Partnerships, Black Alphabet
Guillermo Nino
Lead Outreach Worker, Enlace Chicago
Jackie Hoffman
Founder and CEO, Peace Runners 773
Kimeco Roberson
Ensemble Member, Honey Pot Performance
LoLita Canady
Executive Director and President, Rosemoor Community Association
Mercedes Pickett
Founder and Community Architect, Earth's Remedies Chicago
Miranda Standberry-Wallace
Board Member, Culture Canvas Cafe and Art Gallery
Nicole Reed
Executive Director, Still Searching Project
Sam Brandstrader
Assistant Program Director, Southwest Organizing Project
Tyrell Shoemaker
Director of J29 Homes, Legacy Disciple
Wanakee Trask
Founder and Executive Director, Elevate Greatness
Wesley Rodgers
Executive Director, Railroad Tracks Music Academy
About the Program
The Chicago Peace Fellows project connects and equips cohorts of past grantees of the Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities to reduce violence and promote peace. The 2025 Chicago Peace Fellows is the seventh all-Chicago cohort to utilize the GATHER platform, an online learning hub built by the Goldin Institute to empower grassroots leaders.
The Chicago Peace Fellows will engage in a 36-week course of intensive shared learning as well as group projects, culminating in a graduation event in November, 2025. The curriculum was designed in collaboration with Partnership for Safe and Peaceful grantees and refined by annual cohorts of Chicago Peace Fellows, based on their practical knowledge and hard earned wisdom.
The Goldin Institute and the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities have aligned missions that value authentic community leadership. The Chicago Fund is uniquely effective at finding motivated problem-solvers and community-builders. By connecting Chicago leaders through GATHER, their efforts to nurture safer and more peaceful communities will be more effective, interconnected and lasting.
Learn about the GATHER platform
The Chicago Peace Fellows utilize the GATHER Platform, a mobile learning tool created by the Goldin Institute to support shared learning and community-driven change. The platform provides an innovative curriculum designed for leaders who want to build on the talents of their neighbors and the assets of their communities to create lasting impact. Through GATHER, Fellows learn and work together using materials, videos, practices, and tools that form a mobile classroom and comprehensive toolkit for developing strong community leadership.
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