Gun Violence Prevention Campaign
Aligning Messaging, Partnerships and Public Trust Around a Complex Community Safety Challenge
Challenge: Align diverse stakeholders and messaging around a complex, sensitive public safety issue while building trust and supporting long-term prevention efforts.
Led communications strategy for a citywide gun violence prevention initiative, aligning messaging across multiple agencies and community partners to support public safety efforts, expand outreach and build trust in historically underserved neighborhoods.
As Communications Director, I advised leadership on messaging, coordinated cross-sector communications and helped translate complex, sensitive issues into clear, actionable information for the public.
The work required moving beyond traditional public safety messaging. Rather than focusing solely on incident response, the strategy positioned gun violence as a systemic issue requiring coordinated intervention. Communications were structured to support a broader framework that included prevention, intervention and community engagement—aligning messaging with initiatives such as violence interrupter programs, youth outreach efforts and cross-agency partnerships.
A central priority was ensuring consistency across stakeholders. The work involved close coordination with city leadership, law enforcement, community organizations and regional partners to establish a shared narrative—one that acknowledged the seriousness of the issue while reinforcing a collective commitment to solutions. Messaging needed to be clear enough to inform, measured enough to avoid escalation and credible enough to build trust in communities that have historically been skeptical of government-led efforts.
Convening the Community
Equally important was the need to humanize the work without oversimplifying it. Communications highlighted lived experiences, community voices and the long-term impacts of violence, while also reinforcing the structure and intent of the programs in place. This approach helped shift the conversation from isolated incidents to a more comprehensive understanding of prevention and recovery.
Partnering with the city's director of Government Affairs and Community Relations, I led a team that organized a two-day Gun Violence Prevention Summit title, "Choose Peace: Gun Violence Must Cease." The event drew an estimated 400 people to the Hilton UF Conference Center on August 6 and 7 2023. The event had panel discussions, a youth town hall, breakout sessions, mental health seminars and other activities surrounding the search for community solutions.
Summit Reference Materials
Summit News Releases
Educational Campaigns
The strategy also required adaptability. Gun violence is not static, and neither is public response.
Communications were developed to respond to emerging situations while maintaining alignment with long-term goals—ensuring that short-term messaging did not undermine broader efforts.
This included supporting public-facing initiatives, coordinating announcements and providing materials that could be used consistently across departments and partners.
The result was a more cohesive communications environment around a highly complex issue.
Messaging supported not only awareness, but participation—helping to connect residents with programs, reinforce community partnerships and position the work as a shared responsibility rather than a single-agency effort.
Between February 2023 and December 2024, our communications strategy disseminated information alaunched social media posts, news items and interviews to promote program components that were less public-facing but strategically crucial in terms of prevention and enforcement.
In addition to the introduction of IMPACT GNV, we also created materials describing the purpose of the Violence Interrupters team. This unit of trusted messengers housed within the larger IMPACT GNV program logged hundreds of hours of neighborhood outreach, conflict mediation and youth engagement.
We managed media requests for the Gainesville Police Department (GPD), lining up interviews to publicize the newly created Gun Violence Unit. Comprised of one sergeant and four officers with the sole focus of reducing gun violence, the unit works with partner agencies, including the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, to cross jurisdictional lines and share resources.
Finally, we were always on hand to share about gun safety and prevention citywide.
News Releases on Gun Violence Prevention
Measurable Results
Throughout 2024 and 2025, data from GPD showed a striking reduction in gun violence and related gun crime across the City of Gainesville.
Gun homicides, which peaked at 14 in 2023, dropped to eight in 2024 and three in 2025. City leaders attributed the 78% decrease to a mix of factors-- but high on that list was the increasing quality and reach of city-led initiatives and outreach.
This work reflects a leadership approach grounded in coordination and clarity: aligning multiple stakeholders around a common narrative, communicating with discipline in sensitive environments and supporting long-term strategy through consistent, credible execution.
