Defiant Optimism in Response to Gun Violence: Meet Whitney Austin

02/08/23 • 54 min

In this episode of Community Possibilities, Whitney Austin joins me to talk about how her life changed during what was otherwise a normal day on the Sept. 6, 2018 during a mass shooting in Cincinnati, Ohio. Three weeks after the shooting, she founded Whitney Strong with her husband, Waller Austin.
Episode Highlights:

How she and her husband went from knowing nothing about nonprofits to where the organization is now.
Why they choose a path of inclusivity and common ground, a hard thing to do when working to prevent gun violence.
Why they take a data-informed approach.
Whitney Strong’s Safe a Life Initiative
Why a public health approach to gun violence research is needed.
Why WS pursues policies that people from both parties support and their commitment to having conversations that unify.

As Whitney says, she is a defiant optimist and "We can do better, when we come together."

Find out more about Whitney and Whitney Strong at https://www.whitneystrong.org/

Whitney’s Bio

Impassioned after surviving the Sept. 6, 2018, mass shooting in Cincinnati, Ohio, Whitney cofounded Whitney/Strong with her husband, an organization focused on finding common ground to end gun violence through data-driven, responsible gun ownership solutions.
Under her leadership, Whitney/Strong has executed on a number of responsible gun ownership solutions including securing the first hearing on gun safety legislation in Frankfort in over a decade. Joining Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to announce the STRONG Ohio legislation, a response to the community call of “Do Something” after the Dayton Oregon District shooting in 2019. Distributing over 12,000 gun locks across Kentucky and Ohio thanks to a partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics and with the support of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Training over 500 people in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by gun violence in methods to reduce gun violence. And most recently, lobbying Senator Mitch McConnell and Rob Portman to ensure passage of the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Prior to her calling, Whitney was employed by Fifth Third Bank for 15 years as Vice President, Digital Lending Product Manager. In 2018, Whitney and her team launched the first omnichannel digital lending application in the industry.
A wife and a mother of two, Whitney resides in Louisville, Kentucky where she earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Louisville. She enjoys traveling to new locations with her family, musical theatre, the Bengals, college basketball, and getting out

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· Support the evaluation capacity of your coalition or community-based organization.

· Help you create a strategic plan that doesn’t stress you and your group out, doesn’t take all year to design, and is actionable.

· Engage your group in equitable discussions about difficult conversations.

· Facilitate a workshop to plan for action and get your group moving.

· Create a workshop that energizes and excites your group for action.

· Speak at your conference or event.

Have a question or want to know more? Book a call with Ann .

Be sure and check out our updated resource page! Let us know what was helpful.
Music by Zach Price: [email protected]

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How she and her husband went from knowing nothing about nonprofits to where the organization is now.
Why they choose a path of inclusivity and common ground, a hard thing to do when working to prevent gun violence.
Why they take a data-informed approach.
Whitney Strong’s Safe a Life Initiative
Why a public health approach to gun violence research is needed.
Why WS pursues policies that people from both parties support and their commitment to having conversations that unify.

As Whitney says, she is a defiant optimist and "We can do better, when we come together."

Find out more about Whitney and Whitney Strong at https://www.whitneystrong.org/

Whitney’s Bio

Like what you heard? Please like and share wherever you get your podcasts!

Connect with Ann: Community Evaluation Solutions How Ann can help:

· Support the evaluation capacity of your coalition or community-based organization.

· Help you create a strategic plan that doesn’t stress you and your group out, doesn’t take all year to design, and is actionable.

· Engage your group in equitable discussions about difficult conversations.

· Facilitate a workshop to plan for action and get your group moving.

· Create a workshop that energizes and excites your group for action.

· Speak at your conference or event.

Have a question or want to know more? Book a call with Ann .

Be sure and check out our updated resource page! Let us know what was helpful.
Music by Zach Price: [email protected]

Previous Episode

Building Trust-based Relationships Across Communities: Meet Mary Margaret Mauer from Restoration Rome

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In this episode, Dr. Mary Margaret Mauer joins me to talk about Restoration Rome and trauma-informed approaches to working with her community in Rome, GA. Mary Margaret and her husband Jeff co-founded Restoration Rome, a long with multiple community members and agencies.
In this episode we discuss:

How she and Jeff came to understand the brokeness foster care system
How this understanding led to a vision for one place where people can serve others and create a space for those needing services
Restoration Rome a 1-stop hub for foster, adoption, and family services that provides mental health support, resources, parent support and training, health care, community support
How she came to value a Trauma-Informed approach and became a passionate advocate for Trust-based Relational Intervention (TBRI)
Creating a common understanding and language across sectors
Why relationships are the key for healing and how TBRI provides a frameowrk that works for understanding others
What other community-based organizations and coalitions can learn from the work of Restoration Rome
Their biggest challenges and how have they have met them

Mary Margaret Mauer Bio
Mary Margaret Mauer is a passionate advocate, community organizer, and educator on behalf of foster, adoptive, and at-risk children and families. Focused on developing innovative, community-based solutions to the systemic issues contributing to family dissolution and on empowering all who interact with children and families from trauma histories with the knowledge and skills to provide hope and lasting healing.
Connect with Ann
Community Evaluation Solutions
Be sure and check out our updated resource page! Let us know what was helpful.
Have a question or need some help? Book a call.
Community Possibilities is Produced by Zach Price
Music by Zach Price: [email protected]

Like what you heard? Please like and share wherever you get your podcasts!

Connect with Ann: Community Evaluation Solutions How Ann can help:

· Support the evaluation capacity of your coalition or community-based organization.

· Help you create a strategic plan that doesn’t stress you and your group out, doesn’t take all year to design, and is actionable.

· Engage your group in equitable discussions about difficult conversations.

· Facilitate a workshop to plan for action and get your group moving.

· Create a workshop that energizes and excites your group for action.

· Speak at your conference or event.

Have a question or want to know more? Book a call with Ann .

Be sure and check out our updated resource page! Let us know what was helpful.
Music by Zach Price: [email protected]

Next Episode

The Wisdom and Uniqueness of Rural Communities: Meet Crystal Atson of the Ford Family Foundation

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In this episode of Community Possibilities, Crystal Atson joins me to talk about her work with The Ford Family Foundation and their work in rural communities. We talk about:

We dig into why they work in rural communities and what that looks like.
How they developed their Community Building Approach and the way it guides their work.
The four principles that guide the work of the Foundation.
Crystal's take on the power dynamics between funders and grantees.
How they recognize and deal with those power dynamics while working in communities.
How nonprofits can connect with funders.

Crystal's Bio
Prior to joining the Foundation in June 2016, Crystal Aston worked at the nonprofit Great Northern Services in Weed, Calif., for 11 years, most recently as the community services manager. She was instrumental in growing the community food program and played key roles in providing assistance to the survivors of the Boles Fire of 2014.

Crystal has extensive experience in obtaining grant funding from federal and private sources. Her work included maintaining relationships with local governments to make sure services were not duplicated; she analyzed proposed legislation and regulations to determine how agency services could be impacted.

As a field coordinator for The Ford Family Foundation, she works to build trusting relationships with community stakeholders to support long-term, sustainable action. She helps connect communities to resources from the Foundation and other sources.

Crystal has a bachelor's degree in liberal studies from California State University Chico.
Learn more about the Foundation: tff.org
Contact Crystal: [email protected]
Like what you heard? Please like and share wherever you get your podcasts!

Connect with Ann: Community Evaluation SolutionsHow Ann can help:

Support the evaluation capacity of your coalition or community-based organization.
Help you create a strategic plan that doesn’t stress you and your group out, doesn’t take all year to design, and is actionable.
Engage your group in equitable discussions about difficult conversations.
Facilitate a workshop to plan for action and get your group moving.
Create a workshop that energizes and excites your group for action.
Speak at your conference or event.

Have a question or want to know more? Book a call with Ann .

Be

Like what you heard? Please like and share wherever you get your podcasts!

Connect with Ann: Community Evaluation Solutions How Ann can help:

· Support the evaluation capacity of your coalition or community-based organization.

· Help you create a strategic plan that doesn’t stress you and your group out, doesn’t take all year to design, and is actionable.

· Engage your group in equitable discussions about difficult conversations.

· Facilitate a workshop to plan for action and get your group moving.

· Create a workshop that energizes and excites your group for action.

· Speak at your conference or event.

Have a question or want to know more? Book a call with Ann .

Be sure and check out our updated resource page! Let us know what was helpful.
Music by Zach Price: [email protected]