Together Chicago’s Education focus area leads the Love Your School Collective, a group of partners working to support Chicago students through three priorities: church mobilization, violence prevention, and mentoring. Our goal is that students should thrive academically, stay safe from violence, and have strong paths to post-secondary success.
For more than two years, the Collective’s Violence Prevention team has met, listened, and learned alongside students and youth development workers across the city. Led by Robin Koelsch of Communities in Schools of Chicago, the team has now published One Small Shift, a white paper that invites every Chicagoan to play a role in creating safer, more connected environments for young people.
Robin Koelsch interacting with students in a public school classroom
The paper begins with a practical premise: violence prevention is not the responsibility of schools, families, public agencies, or community organizations alone; it is shared work. Adults can make a difference through small, consistent actions—learning a young person’s name, listening without judgment, supporting a neighborhood program, offering mentorship, or simply treating young people with dignity and respect.
One Small Shift brings together student voices and insights from educators, community leaders, parents, violence interrupters, and other Chicagoans. It offers five approachable ways to get started:
- Build relationships with young people
- Learn about community needs
- Shift from “it’s not my problem” to “my actions matter”
- Identify your network
- Take a first step
The next phase of this work is to bring the paper into communities across Chicago through trainings and conversations. Under Robin’s leadership, Together Chicago and its partners will share this free resource widely and invite adults throughout the city to consider one question: What is your One Small Shift?
Access a brief and download the white paper here.