National Offices of Violence Prevention Network

When NOVPN launched in 2021, it carried strong intent and weak infrastructure. The Network had 21 jurisdiction members, no executive director, and no operational backbone to coordinate a field that was growing faster than its supporting institutions. Offices of Violence Prevention were being stood up in cities across the country, but most were learning in isolation — repeating each other's mistakes, fighting for the same federal funding, and struggling to make the case to their political leadership that the work would last. The field needed a peer-learning infrastructure that could compound knowledge across jurisdictions. NOVPN was the vehicle, but it didn't yet have the structure to deliver.

Shantay became NOVPN's first director in 2024, joining an organization that had grown to 45 member jurisdictions but still operated without a permanent operational framework. She designed the Network's governance model, regional structure, and convening cadence — establishing an annual national convening and four regional gatherings each year. She built the membership pipeline, the federal partner relationships, and the cross-jurisdictional working groups that allowed member cities to share data, frameworks, and procurement strategies in real time. Throughout her tenure, she served as the Network's public face — testifying, convening federal partners, and building the case to mayors and county executives that membership wasn't an affiliation, it was operational infrastructure.

Under Shantay's leadership, NOVPN's membership grew from 45 jurisdictions to over 90 in two years — establishing the Network as one of the field's leading peer-learning and infrastructure-building bodies for Offices of Violence Prevention. The annual and regional convenings became the field's primary gathering points. The Network's structural growth created political cover for member jurisdictions navigating leadership transitions and funding shifts, and positioned NOVPN as a credible interlocutor for federal partners shaping the next generation of violence reduction policy.