Community-Led Violence Prevention · Est. 2014
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"The bullet doesn't know the child's name. But I do. That's the whole job — knowing the name before the bullet does."
Carlos Medina, violence interrupter standing in Bogotá street with colorful murals behind him

Carlos Medina

Violence Interrupter · Barrio Antioquia, Bogotá

12 years in the field · 340+ mediations

More voices below

Medellín · ColombiaKhayelitsha · Cape TownGarfield Park · ChicagoFavela da Maré · Rio de JaneiroMathare · NairobiBronx · New York CityMoss Side · ManchesterSoweto · JohannesburgMedellín · ColombiaKhayelitsha · Cape TownGarfield Park · ChicagoFavela da Maré · Rio de JaneiroMathare · NairobiBronx · New York CityMoss Side · ManchesterSoweto · Johannesburg

Three Continents · Three Corners

Where the work
actually lives.

Every program is rooted in a specific block, a specific clinic, a specific school gym. Proximity is the methodology.

Young woman facilitator with children in colorful staircase mural in Medellín neighborhood
Latin America

−61%

Homicides in 3 years

Comuna 13 · Medellín, Colombia
"We turned the staircases into art, and the art drew the kids away from the corners. You can't mourn what you're still building."

Valentina Ríos

Youth Circle Facilitator

7 years in field

Male healthcare worker in hospital corridor in Cape Town, South Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa

−43%

Reinjury rate in 18 months

Khayelitsha Trauma Ward · Cape Town, South Africa
"I meet them in the hospital bed, while the wound is still fresh. That window — 48 hours — is when someone will actually listen to a different path."

Thabo Dlamini

Hospital-Based Interventionist

5 years in field

Community organizer in Chicago West Side neighborhood with youth group in a gymnasium
North America

−38%

Youth arrests in target blocks

West Side · Garfield Park · Chicago, United States
"Every circle we run, someone says 'nobody ever asked me what I needed.' That's the gap. That's where we live."

Darnell Washington

Diversion Circle Coordinator

9 years in field

Connective Tissue

The methodology
behind the results.

Across every city, the same four pillars. Adapted to local culture, anchored in shared evidence. What works in Khayelitsha works in Garfield Park — because the human geometry of violence is universal.

Credible Messenger Training

We recruit from the communities we serve. Mediators are trained in conflict de-escalation, trauma-informed care, and restorative practice — then certified through a 120-hour curriculum co-designed with university partners in each city.

120-hour certified curriculum

Hospital-Based Intervention

The 48-hour window after a gunshot injury is the highest-leverage moment for intervention. Our HBI protocol embeds trained interventionists in trauma wards to reach victims and their networks before retaliation cycles begin.

Youth Diversion Circles

Restorative circles that bring together young people, families, harm-doers, and community elders as an alternative to prosecution. Circles run 6–8 sessions. Completion rate: 84%.

Real-Time Data Infrastructure

Block-level incident mapping updated weekly. Each site runs a local data team that feeds a shared dashboard. Funders, practitioners, and city officials see the same numbers — no filtered reporting.

Live in 14 cities

Block-Level Evidence · 2023–2025

Incident reduction, block level−52%

Avg. across all active program sites, 2023–2025

Mediator retention after 3 years78%

Compared to 31% sector average

Youth diverted from prosecution1,240

Successfully redirected to community pathways

Cities with active data dashboards14

Real-time block-level incident tracking

Medellín · ColombiaKhayelitsha · Cape TownGarfield Park · ChicagoFavela da Maré · Rio de JaneiroMathare · NairobiBronx · New York CityMoss Side · ManchesterSoweto · JohannesburgMedellín · ColombiaKhayelitsha · Cape TownGarfield Park · ChicagoFavela da Maré · Rio de JaneiroMathare · NairobiBronx · New York CityMoss Side · ManchesterSoweto · Johannesburg
Training Partnerships

Bring this work
to your city.

Disarm deploys embedded training teams to cities ready to build or scale violence interruption programs. We bring the curriculum, the data infrastructure, and — where possible — the connective tissue to programs already working in your neighborhoods.

90-day

On-site program launch

120-hr

Mediator certification

14 cities

Current active deployments

Bring This Training to Your City
Global Prevention Summit · October 2026

Reserve your seat
at the table.

Three days. Four regional tracks. Policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and community leaders in the same room — because the solutions live at the intersection.

October 14–16, 2026
Medellín, Colombia
340 seats available
4 Regional tracks

01 · Who are you

02 · Your role

03 · Regional track

No payment required to reserve. Confirmation within 24 hours.