Reducing Gun Violence: The Ecosystem of Public Safety

Pamela Bosley was born and raised in the City of Chicago, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Olivet University in Illinois with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Trauma Informed Leadership from Dominique University. She spent more than 20 years in the banking industry.  However, after one of her sons, Terrell Bosley at the age of 18 was shot and killed on the grounds of a church in 2006, she changed directions to make a difference in the lives of youth and parents whose children’s lives were taken by violence.

As St. Sabina’s Violence Prevention Executive Director, Pam oversees Purpose Over Pain where she advocates for common sense gun measures while designing creative support services that support survivor families on their journeys of transforming their pain into their new norm and purpose. Also, she has empowered young people to be leaders and self-advocates, guiding them to discover their own voices and abilities to bring change to their communities.  As the Founder and CEO of the Terrell Bosley Association, the goal is to strengthen and heal communities.

Pam has been featured in several PSAs and magazines, a novel entitled How Long Will I Cry, and documentaries entitled “Under the Gun” and “Making A Killing.”  She has also participated on may panels and spoken on the local and state levels against senseless gun violence in Illinois and elsewhere.

Pam believes that because her son Terrell can no longer speak, she must continue to be his voice for change.  She says, “we can change the narrative of our youth and our communities by ending senseless gun violence together.”

Pam Bosley continues to reside in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and is the mother of 3 sons.  It is her greatest wish to live and be happy without the element of senseless violence.

Tim Daly is Director of the Foundation’s Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform Program, focused on building safe and just communities in the Great Lakes region. Tim manages the Foundation’s grantmaking focused on policies and practices that reduce easy accessibility of guns to those at risk of violence; gun violence-related research and data infrastructure; litigation strategies; and education campaigns focused on the risks of gun ownership. Tim also co-directs the Foundation’s political violence pilot project, designed to respond to the threat of armed extremism, and to mitigate its impact on our democracy and democratic institutions.

Additionally, Tim serves as chair of the Fund for a Safer Future, a collaborative of 30 foundations and donors supporting efforts to prevent gun violence nationwide. He also co-chairs the gun policy action committee of the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a donor collaborative focused on reducing gun violence in Chicago.

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2019, Tim served as chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, and from 2014-2016, was managing director for the Guns and Crime policy section at the Center for American Progress (CAP). From 2010–2014, Tim also served as interim chief of staff and legislative director for U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), where he was responsible for establishing and directing the House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, which Thompson continues to chair.

Tim also previously served as a fellow in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia from 2009 to 2010; campaign manager and finance director for the Peter Franchot for Maryland state comptroller campaign; and communications director for U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) from 2004 to 2006.

Originally from Albany, New York, Tim graduated with honors and a degree in government and politics and economics from the University of Maryland in 2004. He also graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2010 and is admitted to the bar in New York State and the District of Columbia.

Eric Smith is the Vice Chairman of BMO Bank. In this role, Eric is responsible for working with the Commercial Banking team and across other lines of business to develop the bank’s strategy and product capabilities as well as key client relationships. Eric is also an integral senior leader responsible for executing the successful integration of BMO’s recent $16 billion acquisition of Bank of the West. As an ambassador for the bank, Eric leads several firmwide initiatives including regulatory affairs, community affairs, and diversity and inclusion.

Eric joined BMO in January 2020 from Fifth Third Bank, where he served as the Regional President responsible for the growth and strategic alignment of the Commercial Banking, Wealth & Asset Management and Consumer businesses across the Chicagoland market. Prior to assuming that role in 2016, Eric served as Chief Financial Officer of Middle Market Banking for JPMorgan Chase for several years following his leadership role as a Managing Director in the Investment Bank responsible for advising Fortune 500 consumer product companies on mergers and acquisitions as well as debt and equity underwritings.

Eric has more than 25 years of banking experience, and he began his career with Merrill Lynch as a Financial Analyst in Public Finance. Eric has a long history of commitment to the non-profit and civic community as reflected through his board service and volunteerism. He is the Immediate Past Board Chairman of the Chicago Urban League; Chairman of the Board for the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital Foundation; Vice Chairman of the Board of Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Treasurer of the Economic Club of Chicago. Likewise, Eric is an active Board Member of the Chicago Public Education Fund, Commercial Club of Chicago, Navy Pier, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Ravinia. Eric is also a member of the Executives Club of Chicago, and the Executive Leadership Council.

Eric earned his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Howard University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He and his wife Kimberly Taylor-Smith have two daughters and they reside in Evanston, IL.

Brandis Friedman is a co-anchor and correspondent for Chicago Tonight, and the host of Chicago Tonight: Black Voices, both on Chicago’s PBS affiliate, WTTW. Her reporting on education and criminal justice has appeared on PBS’ NewsHour and NPR’s The Takeaway. Before joining Chicago Tonight, Brandis worked as a reporter and anchor for WBBM Newsradio 780, and as a producer/reporter for WJLA-TV/ABC-7 in Washington, DC. In addition to earning multiple regional Emmy Awards for her work, she has earned multiple Peter Lisagor Awards, recognizing excellence in journalism, from the Chicago Headline Club.

Originally from Mississippi, Brandis’ work has taken her to numerous cities including Kansas City, Missouri, Little Rock, Arkansas and Wichita Falls, Texas. She has served on the board of the Chicago Headline Club, which is the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and is a member of the Education Writers Association and National Association of Black Journalists. Brandis is a graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans, where she earned a degree in Mass Communications, and Columbia University in New York City, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Journalism. Brandis lives in Evanston with her husband and two sons.