Community, Government and Business Partnerships for Public Safety

Arne Duncan served as U.S. Secretary of Education from January 2009 through December 2015 as part of the Obama Administration. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Duncan served as chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools. From 2001 to 2008, Duncan won praise for uniting the city’s stakeholders behind an education agenda that included opening 100 new schools; expanding after-school, summer learning, early childhood, and college access programs; dramatically boosting the caliber of teachers; and building public-private partnerships around a variety of education initiatives.

He currently leads Chicago CRED, a nonprofit trying to achieve a transformative reduction in gun violence in Chicago. Through partnerships with local business leaders, community organizers, and nonprofit groups, Duncan aims to provide outreach, therapeutic, education, and employment opportunities for the young men most likely to be engaged in gun violence. He is also the managing partner at Emerson Collective, an organization dedicated to removing barriers so people can live to their full potential. Secretary Duncan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1987, majoring in sociology. At Harvard he served as co-captain of the basketball team and was named a first team Academic All-American.

Arne is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, and Co-chairs The Knight Commission. He also serves on the boards of Ariel Investments, Communities in Schools, Eat, Learn, Play, Edmentum, Education Advancement, ESS, Howard University, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, National Association of Basketball Coaches, RingCentral and Schoolhouse.world. 

James Schine Crown is Chairman and CEO of Henry Crown and Company, a privately-owned company which invests in public and private securities, real estate and operating companies. He serves as lead director of General Dynamics Corporation and is a director of JPMorgan Chase. He is Chairman Emeritus of The Aspen Institute Board of Trustees, and trustee of the Museum of Science and Industry and the University of Chicago. Mr. Crown is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a former member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board appointed by President Barack Obama.

Jim Crown was born in Chicago in 1953, the son of Lester and Renée (Schine) Crown. Mr. Crown earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1976 from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He received his law degree in 1980 from Stanford Law School, where he was projects editor of the Stanford Law Review and a member of the Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation.

Upon graduating from law school, Mr. Crown joined Salomon Brothers Inc, in New York City, as an associate. He became a vice president of the Capital Markets Service Group in January 1983. In April 1985 he returned to Chicago to join his family's investment firm.

Mr. Crown has been married to the former Paula Hannaway since 1985. Paula and Jim Crown have four children and one grandchild.

Chris Patterson serves as  the Assistant Secretary for the Illinois Department of Human Services Office of Firearm Violence Prevention. Chris was appointed to this position in October 2021.

Before creating the OFVP, Chris was the Chief Program Officer at Friends of the Children-Chicago, an organization that provides children facing the greatest obstacles with paid, professional mentors for 12.5 years – no matter what. Prior to joining Friends of the Children, Chris was Senior Director of Programs and Policy for the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago.

Chris has been a thought partner and implementor to Chicago’s largest violence intervention efforts, READI Chicago and Community Partnering 4 Peace. Chris also worked as a Community Organizer/CeaseFire Illinois Program Manager with ONE Northside then later as the Associate Director of Organizing for The Community Renewal Society.

Jalon Arthur joined Chicago CRED in March of 2018, and currently serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives. This position focuses on development of innovative violence-reduction strategies for implementation by citywide street outreach partners. Mr. Arthur supports city and state government efforts to include facilitation of Regional Coordination meetings which convene diverse community stakeholders to coordinate on-the-ground violence reduction efforts and conducts comprehensive city gap analysis to inform street outreach investments. He also provides support to CRED’s citywide outreach investments, including CP4P (Communities Partnering 4 Peace), READI, and outreach implementation in the Roseland and North Lawndale communities.

Mr. Arthur has dedicated 17 years of service committed to reducing violence. Prior to joining CRED, he worked at the University of Illinois with the Cure Violence program as director of innovation and development. During his 15 year tenure, Mr. Arthur worked with acutely at-risk youth to interrupt violence and provide case management support; set up international violence reduction programs in Puerto Rico, South Africa, Trinidad and Morocco; provided training and program support to a network of international partners; implemented innovative strategies to address multiple forms of violence; and developed a phone app in partnership with DePaul University to empower street outreach workers to utilize mobile app technology to enhance violence-reduction capacity. Mr. Arthur holds a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in Psychology, and a Master’s of Science Degree in Human Services.