The Baltimore Cross-Community Reconciliation Project (BCCRP) kicked off on April 24, 2024, following the successful completion of the pilot Baltimore Cross-Community Engagement Project in May 2023. Convened by the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) in partnership with the United Way of Central Maryland (UWCM), the BCCRP is designed to reduce racial bias and discrimination, increase understanding and empathy, and strengthen connections among Baltimore’s diverse community members.
The BCCRP was supported by stakeholders from various backgrounds, such as education, non-profit, law enforcement, interfaith religious, and others. The program is based on GPF’s foundational principle of our shared humanity, where all human beings have innate dignity, are treated with respect, and are valued for their diversity. Project support was provided by GPF and UWCM, including participants from the pilot project who used their experience and expertise to facilitate the in-person sessions.
An initial group of fourteen participants was committed and actively engaged in bridging racial divides and increasing harmony among Baltimore’s diverse communities. Partnerships with the University of Baltimore and the Baltimore Police Education and Training Center created the unique opportunity to hold the project’s ten in-person sessions in a central location at the university’s Learning Commons.
Through open and honest dialogue, the participants worked to better comprehend racial dynamics (histories, grievances, incidents, policies, etc.) and provide a platform for reconciliation and change. They built relationships, a central BCCRP tenet, by sharing personal experiences, discussing their racial history, developing a vision of the future, and conferring on how the vision would be realized. This included interactive activities, discussions led by in-house and external experts, and small group discussions.

Alan Inman, senior adviser to GPF, congratulates participants in completing the BCCR project
As a final activity, the participants collectively designed and delivered a community service project featuring a multicultural event that was held on October 12, 2024, at the Eastern United Methodist Church in Baltimore’s diverse Hamilton community. This event continued the participants’ journey to deepen their bond as they worked together as a team and achieved a heart of reconciliation with each other. This activity also provided them with an opportunity to experience the value of service to others on both an individual and group level.
The BCCRP concluded on October 23 with a graduation ceremony honoring the eight participants who completed the program for their volunteer efforts in becoming community peacebuilders. Reflecting on her BCCRP experience, participant Nadya Ellis stated, “I hope you have other pop-ups in other cities and states because I really feel that communities need the opportunity to fellowship with one another, be able to see each other as a person but also operate out of a place of love.”
Following the conclusion of the BCCRP, the project team partnered with Gary Cordner, academic director of the Baltimore Police Department’s Education and Training Division, and a BCCRP stakeholder to deliver a two-hour peacebuilding training session to about 40 recruits on November 13. The session on “Our Shared Humanity” was well-received by the cadets and leaders, and the project team was invited to continue to present the training to future recruits. The next session will be held on January 22, 2025, for a class of 50 recruits, followed by a new session every 10 weeks.
“I am very pleased that we were able to incorporate this into a very important and meaningful session for the new recruits of the police academy,” said Alan Inman, senior adviser of the Global Peace Foundation. “With this and future sessions, the introduction of community peacebuilding to the cadets, and having discussions about our shared humanity, fundamental rights, and our value as humans will be instrumental for the recruits as well as the citizens of Baltimore as a whole.”

Participants of the 2024 BCCR project gather for a graduation ceremony upon completing the program
Discussions on the BCCRP’s next phase are underway. In the meantime, many of the recent BCCRP graduates expressed their desire to continue this work of reconciliation and have been invited to join a Community Peacebuilding Committee (CPC). The CPC is the sustainable segment of the BCCRP that provides the opportunity for deeper and more difficult conversations regarding racism and justice, and further activities. The CPC was initiated in September 2023 after the completion of the pilot project and will be re-engaged in early 2025. It is anticipated that the CPC will be a resource and assist when needed should a crisis occur in the city, and background support and/or mediation is desired on pertinent issues.
During the graduation ceremony, the BCCRP team expressed their pride in being part of such a worthwhile endeavor to build relationships among Baltimore’s diverse community members. They are grateful for the participants who willingly give their time, effort, and energy to engage in difficult racial conversations, build meaningful relationships, and promote our shared humanity and the strength of diversity to become peacebuilders in today’s divisive society.
The Global Peace Foundation works with community and faith-based leaders and local governments in conflict areas around the world to establish dialogue, build trust, and forge lasting relationships. Since 2016, GPF has organized successful community peacebuilding projects in Billings, Montana, Jersey City, New Jersey, and Baltimore, Maryland.
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