Executive Director Joe Griffin , CA Attorney General Rob Bonta at Commonwealth Club

Community at the Center: Youth ALIVE!’s Voice at the Commonwealth Club on the Future of Gun Violence Prevention

Did you miss it? On August 18, 2025, Youth ALIVE! Executive Director Joseph Griffin, DrPH joined a powerful panel at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs to talk about one of the most urgent public health crises of our time: gun violence.

The event—“The Future of Gun Violence Prevention”—was moderated by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and featured national leaders including David Hogg (Parkland survivor and co-founder of March For Our Lives), Julia F. Weber, Esq., MSW, Kris Brown of Brady: United Against Gun Violence, and Monisha H. of Everytown for Gun Safety. Together, these advocates explored the policy, cultural, and community-driven strategies needed to address gun violence in all its forms.

🎥 Watch the full event on C-SPAN

Joe’s remarks begin at the 22-minute mark

🔎 Topics That Mattered

The panel tackled some of the most urgent questions facing our nation:

• How can California’s model of gun safety be replicated across the country?
• What does accountability look like for a firearm industry driven by profit over people?
• How do we confront the layered realities of gun violence—community violence, mass shootings, domestic violence, suicide?
• Where do we find hope amidst political stalemate and rising violence?

Dr. Griffin’s contributions highlighted what we know to be true in Oakland and beyond: that community violence prevention must be treated as an essential part of the solution. The work of violence interrupters, hospital responders, youth mentors, and healing-centered practitioners is not an afterthought—it’s frontline intervention.

Oakland’s Model, National Implications

Dr. Griffin made sure that Oakland’s lived expertise was heard loud and clear. He shared how, even in the face of funding threats and political rhetoric, community-rooted strategies save lives—and Youth ALIVE! is proof.

“We know what works,” Dr. Griffin emphasized. “We’ve seen it in East Oakland, in neighborhoods that were written off, where now young leaders are stepping up, healing from trauma, and stopping cycles of violence before they begin.”

At Youth ALIVE!, we’re not waiting for change—we’re building it. Our hospital-based intervention program, street outreach, youth leadership training, and family support services are showing measurable impact: lower recidivism, fewer retaliations, and safer communities.

 Why It Mattered

Being at the table in national conversations like this matters.

At Youth ALIVE!, we believe in uplifting lived experience as leadership. When survivors, practitioners, and frontline communities speak—policy shifts, resources follow, and hope becomes strategy.

This panel was more than a discussion. It was a statement: Community-led violence prevention must be prioritized in national gun safety strategies. And Oakland, long dismissed, is now a model.