Chicago’s Blueprint for Safe Schools: A Community-Led Process

Jadine Chou is the Chief of Safety and Security for Chicago Public Schools. As the district’s chief of safety and security, Jadine Chou helps schools maximize student achievement by promoting safe and calm environments and building relationships with students. Jadine oversees the safety operations for more than 320,000 students in more than 640 schools and is responsible for supporting school administrators in their efforts to provide a safe and welcoming learning environment for all students and staff.

Maria has been the youth director of Communities United since 2016, having started with the organization over ten years ago as a volunteer youth leader after she was pushed out of school. A survivor of violence stemming from the home, Maria was one of the founding youth leaders of VOYCE, organizing to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. Maria draws on her lived experiences in her work to create safe spaces in which young people of color can design solutions that address the problems they face, share their lived experiences, build collective power, and build a culture of support and love for each other. In 2018, Maria was recognized by the Bright Promises Foundation for her work to develop the next generation of young people to advance change.

Daniel Brown is a junior at George Westinghouse College Prep. He is a part of the Black student union and student government and acts as a student representative on his Local School Council. Advocating for school safety is a top priority for Daniel because he believes students and teachers should feel at home when they are at school.

Walter joined Arnold Ventures after more than two decades in public service, beginning with a 17-year tenure as a public defender in Southern California through his 2017 appointment as Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety in the administration of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. At the Mayor’s Office, Walter oversaw police reform efforts, served as a co-negotiator of the consent decree that was enacted in 2019, and led the design and development of the new Office of Violence Prevention. Immediately before coming to Arnold Ventures, Walter was the Director of Professional Services at a developer of early intervention software and provided advice to jurisdictions around the U.S. seeking to align policy and technology with 21st Century Police Practices.