Just before the start of this school year, 16-year-old Shaquise Buckner was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting near her home in the West Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. Shaquise was one of the more than 2,000 students at Perspectives Charter Schools, the school network I co-founded in Chicago.
Shaquise’s tragic death was just the latest reminder of the tremendous toll of violence in Chicago and other cities throughout the country. For years, cities have worked to curb the violence, and while murder rates appear to be declining in Chicago and elsewhere, the numbers are still unacceptable.
This is where business leaders can step in.
Time to step up
Last spring, Jim Reynolds, the chairman and CEO of Loop Capital, and Tom Wilson, chairman, president and CEO of the Allstate Corp. came together with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to create a program called Get In Chicago.
They quickly raised more than $40 million from local businesses to develop a coordinated plan to improve safety in neighborhoods across the city. The program is focusing on “developing high-impact, research-based strategies to reduce violence, intervene with those at greatest risk and make our neighborhoods safer,” according to their website.
The fundraising effort behind Get In Chicago is an almost unprecedented example of a public-private partnership coming together to create a safer city for all its residents. Business leaders know that their employees want to live in a safe place in which to raise a family.
They know that a safer city will attract a more skilled workforce, bring more customers and ultimately result in higher revenues for their companies. They also know that preventing tragedies like Shaquise’s death is the right thing to do.
While the impact of Get In Chicago is yet to be seen, Reynolds is not stopping there. He recently wrote a column for Crain’s Chicago Business calling for a new Marshall Plan for Chicago — recalling former U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall’s efforts to rebuild the European economy after World War II.
“We have to provide federal, state and local tax credits and other enhancements for businesses to locate in the most victimized communities — where the unemployment rate is often double or triple that of the rest of the city and more than half of households are below the poverty level,” Reynolds writes.
What will you do?
But business leaders also know that the demand for change in Chicago’s most violent communities has to come from within.
That is why David Storch, chairman and CEO of AAR CORP., was so eager to support the I Am For Peace march and documentary our students led this past spring.
Storch sent dozens of AAR employees to march with our students — and Storch himself was out in front as one of our grand marshals. He even spoke at the Peace Jam for students following the march.
“Our young people have made their voices heard,” Storch said. “Now, our work as leaders is to ensure that all children are living in safe environments.”
Storch, Reynolds and Wilson are taking initiative and showing how business leaders can help create a safer city. What will you do? ●
