The Model
How it is built
Three layers, one system. The network stays in the background while chapters lead with their city identity.
Architecture
Three layers, one system
The three-layer structure
Layer 1 — Emerging Leaders National Network
The umbrella entity. Qualifies chapter applicants, holds standards, coordinates across regions, connects funders to the field, and manages the platform and toolkit. The network is incubated with Cities United as fiduciary.
Layer 2 — Emerging Leaders Chapters
City-level entities with their own identity and leadership. Detroit is the first chapter and the proof of concept. Each chapter is earned — not granted — through the qualification pipeline. More chapters are emerging across the East Coast, the South, the West Coast, and the Midwest.
Layer 3 — The Build Peace Framework
The branded service strategy delivered inside every chapter. A common language that makes the network legible to funders, practitioners, and policymakers across cities.
Why This Structure
The network stays behind the chapter
A national brand doesn't survive in community violence intervention. Trust is local. Relationships are local. The chapter holds the local identity while the network holds the standards and the infrastructure.
This is how you scale CVI without losing what makes it work. Detroit doesn't become "the ELNN chapter in Detroit." Detroit stays Detroit — and the network makes Detroit replicable.
What the network provides
Qualification
The Power Map process
Platform
Data and coordination
Fiduciary
Cities United backstop
Toolkit
Standards and language
Funder Access
National relationships
Learning
Cross-chapter exchange
Ready to bring this model to your city?
The Power Map is the first step. It qualifies your organization for a chapter and starts the pipeline.
The network gives funders one view of the field and one place to put dollars where they work. Detroit is live today, with chapters emerging across the country.
A national engine for community safety. Qualifying chapters, coordinating across regions, and delivering the next generation of CVI — city by city.
Incubated with Cities United as fiduciary.
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