About Us
The CCC is a leading nonpartisan nonprofit organization working to prevent the most extreme forms of violence in New York. The CCC’s work includes tackling gun violence, illegal gun ownership, and violent extremism. Our multidisciplinary team works to convert innovative ideas into action, creating programs and policies that result in real change.
In addition to our pioneering work in reducing the flow of illegal guns in New York City, the CCC works together with communities affected by gun violence to create and implement community-led prevention initiatives. In the extremist violence prevention space, the CCC has developed a first-of-its-kind early intervention program for at-risk individuals who may be mobilizing toward ideologically motivated violence.
Our goal and mandate is to stop violence before it starts.
Board of Directors
Richard J. Ciecka, Mutual of America (Ret.)
Christina Dugger, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Thomas A. Dunne, Fordham University (Ret.)
Richard Girgenti, KPMG LLP (Ret.)
David Hashmall, Goodwin Procter (Ret.)
Rady Johnson, Pfizer Inc.
Caress Kennedy, Allied Universal
Jerry Meade, New York Giants
Edward Milstein, Milstein Brothers Capital Partners
Keith Puls, Verizon (Ret.)
Lauren Resnick, BakerHostetler
Diego Rodriguez, New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Brendan Ryan, Foote, Cone & Belding (Ret.)
Stuart Shorenstein, Cozen O'Conner
Edward Stroz, Stroz Freidberg
Benjamin Tucker, Former Deputy Police Commissioner-NYPD
Leadership
Richard Aborn, President
Richard M. Aborn is president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, a non-partisan non-profit organization with multidisciplinary expertise that works to improve public safety through innovation. At the CCC, Aborn advances strategies to improve the justice system, strengthen gun policies and practices, prevent youth gun violence, and prevent cybercrime. The commission also works with law enforcement, government agencies, community-based organizations, and academia to implement effective, comprehensive strategies to prevent crime.
Also under Aborn’s leadership, the CCC launched the Predictive Prevention Lab, an incubator to develop predictive prevention solutions to enhance the effectiveness of crime prevention through behavior change. The CCC partnered with researchers at New York University to develop a program, called E-Responder, rooted in proven conflict resolution strategies, which trains community-based anti-violence professionals to interrupt conflicts on social media before the conflict escalates into real-world violence. In addition, the commission partnered with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh to create an intelligent tutoring system that builds internet users’ resilience to phishing attacks.
In addition to his work at the CCC, Aborn serves as president of CAAS LLC, which advises police departments, criminal justice agencies, corporations, and other organizations in the United States, Latin America, and Europe on criminal justice policy, violence reduction, and Rule of Law issues.
Read more about Richard HERE
Claire Abrahams, Program Director, Violent Extremism Prevention
Claire is the Director of Violent Extremism Prevention at the Citizens Crime Commission. In this role, Claire directs the DEEP early intervention and terrorism prevention program, the Signals program, community outreach work, and oversees and implements all violent extremism prevention work. Claire works closely with government and non-government partners. Prior to joining the CCC, Claire worked with the Eastern District of New York as the program director for DEEP. Claire has presented on terrorism prevention and early intervention at various places, including the Global Counterterrorism Forum, Harvard Law School, the Brookings Institute, the National Counter Terrorism Centre and the American Jewish Committee. Claire received her BA(Hons)/MA Cantab in Politics and International Relations from Trinity College, Cambridge University. Subsequently, she received her MA in International Relations from Columbia University, specializing in Security and Counter Terrorism.
Jai Khali Thomas, Director of Research & Programming, Youth Gun Violence Prevention
Jai is the Director of Research and Programming for the CCC's Youth Gun Violence Prevention initiative. She is a St. John's University alumni, holding a bachelor's degree in public relations and a master's degree in criminology and justice. For the past 4 years, she has worked in the anti-gun violence space across the state of New York. Jai currently has aspirations of continuing to improve and innovate resources that bring about safer streets throughout New York.
Dominique Smith, Senior Project Researcher and Data Analyst
Dominique is the Senior Project Researcher and Data Analyst at the CCC. She brings a community-first framework to her analysis, utilizing her experience working with grassroots community organizations to explicate the complexities of violence in the gang and extremism space. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with a minor in Africana Studies from Texas A&M University. She also holds a Master’s degree in psychology, with a focus on forensic psychology and the criminal justice system from New York University.
Kaylee Pao, Youth Empowerment Specialist
Kaylee runs the Train Work Forward Program (TWF) which aims to help reduce unemployment and better equip participants for long-term career-building opportunities. To achieve this, Kaylee works closely with individuals at risk of gun violence who live in underserved communities in New York City. The CCC is helping to create upstream solutions to problems these individuals encounter on a daily basis including gun violence, unemployment, and environmental injustice.
Ashley Henderson, LMSW, Community Outreach Specialist
Ashley is a social worker educating the public on recognizing and responding to the warning signs of mobilization toward violent extremism. After graduating magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago, she moved to New Orleans to pursue her MSW at Tulane University School of Social Work. Ashley has experience in individual and group therapy, psycho-education, community organizing, and mental health-related content creation. She currently serves as the Community Outreach Specialist at the CCC.
Shyda joined the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City in December 2022 after thirteen years of working as a small business owner and licensed real estate agent in New York State. Community is what drew her to the nonprofit work of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City. She currently serves as Treasurer of Cora Dance Brooklyn in Red Hook, Brooklyn. She was a teaching artist at the Children's Museum of Arts in NYC. She graduated from Saint Edwards University in Austin, Texas with a BA degree in English Writing and Rhetoric.