DAVE GASKIN, "BRAVE"

I was born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn, N.Y, what I refer to as the "Old Bed-Stuy," not the "New Bed-Stuy!" Previously I worked as a Project Manager for the Mayor's Action Plan (M.A.P’s), Neighborhood Safety Initiative (NSI) for the Brownsville Houses, NYCHA Development. Neighborhood safety is about more than the absence of crime. It is about the opportunity for residents to call a neighborhood home, transforming desolated public spaces into vibrant, well cared for active spaces, and building trust between government and its constituents that allows for partnership at all levels.

​

I arrived at NSI after leading Save Our Streets Crown Heights, an anti-gun violence initiative that was the first to replicate and enhance the Cure Violence public health approach in New York State. I worked intensively with a team of Outreach Workers and Violence Interrupters on the streets of Central Brooklyn driving shootings down from 24 to 3 shootings and from 8 homicides to zero in a targeted 40 square block radius. We also organized the first-ever student-led “Walkout Against Gun Violence.” 

Prior to NSI and Save Our Streets, I worked with people involved in the criminal justice system including people in Alternatives To Incarceration programs and people returning to the community after incarceration. I have also worked with people impacted by H.I.V/AIDS, chemical dependency, and victims/survivors of domestic violence.

I am an inactive gang member who promotes healthy masculinity to young black men.