Eddie Bocanegra is the Senior Director of READI Chicago, where he oversees the management and implementation of the evidence-based and trauma-informed program to reduce gun violence and promote safety and opportunity. As a pioneer in the field, Mr. Bocanegra brings years of experience in community-based organizations and programs created to address trauma and build resiliency among those most impacted by violence. Most recently, he served as Executive Director for the YMCA of Chicago and was responsible for programs that focused on trauma-informed approaches such as Urban Warriors and Bridging the Divide.

Mr. Bocanegra holds both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University, respectively. He has served on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Commission for a Safer Chicago, is a committee member of the Juvenile Justice Leadership Council, and a board member of the Community Renewal Society and of the Juvenile Justice Initiative. He has spoken at the United Nations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and the U.S. Embassy in Madrid and Uganda on the topic of trauma and its relation to community violence.

Dr. Trent Orfanos is from Crown Point Indiana and attends St Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral In Merrillville, IN. He’s originally from South Bend Indiana. He is an interventional and functional cardiologist at Franciscan Hospital Crown Point. He is married to Beth Orfanos from Merrillville, Indiana. He has four daughters and four grandchildren. He has also served as Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine Indiana University School of Medicine, sub section chief of cardiology Saint Anthony Hospital Crown Point Indiana, and on the Board of Saint Anthony Hospital Crown Point Indiana.

Professionally, Anthony has been a public school educator for 26 years, teaching science to serving in administration. Currently, Anthony is principal of Mundelein High School. Anthony graduated with a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction in 2005, as well as attended University of Illinois and Northern Illinois University. Anthony was joined in marriage to Maria 24 years ago. During this time, they have been raising six children from ages 23 to 12.

Julian is a producer for the Worldview, the long-running daily global issues talk show on WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR news station. Before joining Worldview, he was a regular guest of the show. He was most recently a co-founder of The Euromaidan Journalist Collective, a nonprofit formed to provide news and analysis of the 2013-2014 revolution and ongoing war in Ukraine. A multidisciplinary journalist, Julian directed a feature-length film called Block Four: Chernobyl 2011, and has worked on several multimedia projects in Ukraine, Canada, Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Italy, and Cuba.

A lifelong Chicagoan, Julian is defending an M.A. in International Studies from DePaul University, where his research focuses on the intersection of religion, civic identity, politics, and social protest. DePaul is also where he earned his B.A. in Journalism and Digital Cinema Production. Julian won the Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award for Excellence in Journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2015 and was a finalist for the Pinnacle Award for Best Profile Writing in 2015. Fun fact: Julian comes from a 400-year line of priests, descended from St. Job of Manyava.