Amy Ellenbogen is a serial founder of programs that prevent community and interpersonal violence through collective and community-led problem solving and civic engagement. Her programs are rooted in collective healing, leadership development and the use of arts.

Her passion for this work was seeded by her participation in activities at the White Plains Youth Bureau where she was on the youth council and a youth representative on the Mayor’s Youth Committee. “Whenever I design a youth program, I try to replicate the experiences of leadership I was given at the Youth Council. Those were amazing gifts and they inform my practice of ensuring that the most impacted people have power and voice at every step of the program.”

Amy was the director of Neighbors in Action (formerly Crown Heights Community Mediation Center) for 17 years. She founded the first Cure Violence replication site in New York State, Save Our Streets, (S.O.S). This program relies on credible messengers to prevent gun violence and change local norms. Amy also founded programs for young men of color who are victims of violence, truancy intervention programs, arts and social justice initiatives, and ROOTED, a program at Columbia College for dialogue and action around power and privilege. In White Plains, she co-founded Theater Unlimited with Annie Davis. Amy is currently the Director of Arts Strategies at the Center for Court Innovation working to engage artists and arts institutions in justice reform and neighborhood safety.