*This talk is presented in Spanish.*
Carlos Cruz founded Cauce Ciudadano almost 15 years ago. Cauce Ciudadano is a community center aimed at reducing school violence in Mexico. His personal experiences as a victim of violence and abuse, and asa gang member play a significant role in his work on violence prevention. Cruz has been internationally recognized for proposing an innovative model of violence prevention. With help of volunteers, psychologists, medical doctors and other professionals, Cauce Ciudadano provides series of workshops, therapy sessions and activities to combat addictions, reintegrate families, alter dangerous behaviors, and prepare young Mexicans for employment. A core aspect of the program is that ex-gang leaders like Cruz work as mentors that connect with at-risk youth at a deep personal level.
This talk is part of a series of speeches and discussions from the Conference on Violence and Policing in Latin American and U.S. Cities. The conference was hosted and organized by the Program on Poverty and Governance at Stanford's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. Presentation: http://stanford.io/1kQDU9G. For more information on the Program on Poverty and Governance, please visit http://povgov.stanford.edu and follow #PovGov on Twitter.