Curbing Gun Violence in Omaha: The Empowerment Network

To some, gun violence and broken trust between police and community members seem like problems that are simply too big to fix, but not to Willie Barney.

As the founder and president of the African-American Empowerment Network, a My Brother’s Keeper Alliance National Seed Community, Willie has transformed the city of Omaha through the Omaha 360 Violence Intervention and Prevention Collaborative, in partnership with hundreds of other leaders in the city. Made up of representatives from all parts of the community, from the clergy to the private sector to the police, the collaborative uses a holistic approach to reduce gun violence and build stronger police-community relations—and it’s yielded real results.

Listening to communities affected by decades of disinvestment and discrimination inspired Willie to form the African-American Empowerment Network—a catalyst for bringing together individuals and organizations across Omaha to create solutions to the deeper, structural problems that lead to gun violence, economic instability, and other inequities.

Before COVID-19 hit, their work contributed to a 74 percent sustained decrease in gun violence and a 90 percent decrease in officer involved shootings over ten years.

Read an interview with Willie Barney, Founder of the Empowerment Network

Learn more about the Omaha Empowerment Network

Read news article about the successes of the Omaha Approach