A row of people stands with their arms around each other at Milwaukee's Wear Orange events. It includes WAVE staff, an intern, several partners, survivors, and Milwaukee's mayor.

Peace, equity, and justice are core values at WAVE Educational Fund. To live these values, we strived every day throughout 2024 to promote equity-based solutions to gun violence that do not contribute to mass incarceration or systemic racism. We worked alongside survivors and community-based organizations to raise awareness about the impacts of–and commonsense solutions to–gun violence and bring together like-minded individuals who are committed to change.

Public Policy

Grassroots Work

WAVE supporters were active this year, sending over 3,000 emails to policymakers about solutions to gun violence. State lawmakers are taking note, too; legislators now tell us that voters are asking for stronger gun laws even in areas of the state that are historically conservative.

We also launched our new statewide Virtual Action Team, which meets monthly to connect with others committed to reducing violence and taking meaningful actions. To register for the next Virtual Action Team meeting, visit our events page.

Wisconsin Legislation

Once again, WAVE, along with our supporters and organizational partners, was able to help stop every single reckless, pro-gun bill that extremists put forward in the legislative session. These included two separate bills that would have resulted in more guns on school campuses and a bill that would have made it more difficult to track and prevent gun smuggling. 

Three people are gathered together for a selfie.
Representatives from Forward Latino and Moms Demand Action take a selfie with WAVE’s Policy and Organizing Associate, Tyler Kelly
Three women speak on a panel during the Emergency Gun Violence Summit.
Representatives from Children’s Wisconsin, Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, and Brady speak on a panel

Photos courtesy of Forward Latino

This success was also due in part to the Wisconsin Gun Violence Prevention Coalition, which WAVE leads, working in even closer alignment than in past years. Legislators shared that having so many organizations and people working with such unity sent a clear, decisive message about the commitment Wisconsinites bring to gun violence prevention work. 

Further, we worked with partners, including the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, to help defeat a constitutional amendment question in August that would have slowed the state’s ability to respond to emergencies. 

A person wearing leopard print and shiny glasses sits at a table. They are talking with two other people, explaining something as the others bend over looking at information.
Vote No Day of Action
A woman holds two boxes of letters during the Vote No Day of Action. The letters are ready to be mailed.
A person stands behind a counter covered in merchandise that says "Vote No." Someone is standing on the other side of the counter, looking at the objects.
Photos courtesy of LWV Wisconsin, Souls to the Polls

We also celebrated Wisconsin’s new, fairer election maps, which will help Wisconsin’s state legislature to represent Wisconsin voters better.

Federal Legislation

Nationally, we met regularly with the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, helping to guide their policy decisions. We also celebrated the ATF’s new rule, for which we advocated, that reduces the number of guns that may be sold without a background check. Additionally, we continued to support our national partners’ work to advance federal gun violence prevention policies. 

We also joined the new Community Safety Working Group, made up of approximately 100 nonprofit organizations nationwide advocating for public safety policies through a public health lens. Some of the Working Group’s main initiatives included advocating for the federal Break the Cycle of Violence Act and advancing local efforts, including community violence intervention (CVI), to reimagine public safety strategies.

A collection of people stands on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. They are all dressed professionally.
State groups gathered to attend a White House event, photo courtesy of States United to Prevent Gun Violence
President Biden sits at a table. Behind him stands Vice President Harris, and several survivors of gun violence. The president is signing an executive order to help with gun violence prevention work.
President Biden signs a new executive order to take action reducing gun violence, September 2024

In September, we went to the White House for the signing of two new executive orders: one that helps protect students from trauma associated with unnecessarily jarring active shooter drills and another that helps to stem the tide of ghost guns, which are difficult to trace after being used in a crime.

We also participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program. Headed by the U.S. Department of State, the program brings leaders from around the globe to the United States for discussions around critical issues. WAVE facilitated discussions on gun violence and on violent extremism. The group talked through shared struggles, concerns, and solutions that are being implemented for a safer future.

A group of formally dressed people pose together, smiling at the camera
participants of the International Visitor Leadership Program

Community Violence Intervention

WAVE continued to lead Wisconsin’s Community Violence Intervention (CVI) coalition, alongside a partner organization, Community Justice. In 2024, both Green Bay and Racine hired violence interrupters for their local offices of violence prevention, and Milwaukee County announced and launched a new CVI program. Wisconsin now has more local violence prevention offices than any state other than California.

Community and Partner Engagement

Community Events

We worked with multiple organizations to bring their visions to fruition. We collaborated with playwright Michael Cotey and Carthage College Professor Martin McClendon to help produce Terminal Exhale, a play based on the experiences of healthcare providers who see the impacts of gun violence in their work.

Additionally, WAVE staff helped organize, host, and publicize Milwaukee’s Wear Orange events for National Gun Violence Awareness Day in June, and we promoted and tabled at Wear Orange events in Madison and Racine as well. 

Three people are smiling at the camera. They wear shirts that say End Gun Violence. They seem happy to be at a gun violence prevention event.
Three people pose together. They appear to be a family - a mother, a teen, and a young child. Their arms are around each other.
A row of people stands with their arms around each other at Milwaukee's Wear Orange events. It includes WAVE staff, an intern, several partners, survivors, and Milwaukee's mayor.
During Milwaukee's Wear Orange events, a speaker stands outside holding a microphone. The foreground of the photo shows dozens of people gathered around, listening.
Wear Orange Milwuakee

In the fall, we worked with Forward Latino, the 80% Coalition, and others to plan and host an all-day gun violence prevention summit. The summit featured many excellent speakers, including Governor Tony Evers, Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, and Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul. Our executive director, Jeri Bonavia, gave one of the keynote addresses, and Nick Matuszewski, our Director of Policy and Program, introduced representatives from the White House and participated in two of the day’s panels. Hundreds of attendees learned about the causes of and solutions to gun violence and were motivated to action. 

WAVE's Executive Director, Jeri Bonavia, stands on a stage speaking. She is behind a podium, and the podium has a sign on it that says Enough! Commonsense gun violence prevention now!
Executive Director Jeri Bonavia gives a keynote speech
Four people sit at a table, speaking during a panel. The second person from the left is WAVE's Director of Policy and Program, Nick Matuszewski.
Director of Policy and Program Nick Matuszewski speaks on a panel
Two people stand beneath a large orange banner that says Enough! Commonsense gun violence prevention now!
Many people mill around a room during the Gun Violence Summit. Some are sitting, some standing, people are engaged and talking with each other.
Summit photos courtesy of 80% Coalition
Governor Evers speaks into a microphone during the Gun Violence Summit

The two deputy directors of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention stand with a row of WAVE Interns and WAVE's program manager
WAVE staff and interns pose with the Deputy Directors of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention

Civic Engagement Work

In 2024, WAVE did extensive get-out-the-vote work. Leading up to the August primary and the November general elections, WAVE worked at Get Out the Vote Days of Action, where people could receive a ride to the polls for early voting and participate in phone and text banking efforts. 

Three people stand together looking at the camera. They wear orange and hold a sign that says I will vote!
Participants pose for photos and head to the polls for early voting
Two people look at a phone together, figuring out logistics. They are next to a van that says Go Vote! Rides to the Polls! It is clear that one of them is getting ready to head to their poling place.
A collection of people sits in a van. The lights are blue, with a party atmosphere. The people are having fun and smiling.
Photos courtesy of Souls to the Polls

Leading up to the November election, WAVE employees and volunteers sent nearly 300,000 text messages reminding people to use their voice and helping to build voting plans. 

We also continued our tradition of sending educational emails before all of the year’s elections to remind people of important voting deadlines and opportunities. 

Education


Throughout the year, WAVE worked to cultivate opportunities to raise awareness about gun violence and its impacts. We hosted a virtual discussion with Dominic Erdozain, author of “One Nation Under Guns,” and a webinar about community violence intervention work in Wisconsin. WAVE staff spoke on a panel hosted by the Wisconsin Children’s Office of Mental Health and on the radio show Tea Time with Tye. 

Two WAVE staff and a volunteer stand behind a table at an event. The table is covered in information about gun violence prevention and WAVE.
a container of round orange stickers. The top sticker says Freedom from gun violence now!

We also participated in many in-person educational events. We tabled at events, including
Milwaukee PrideFest
Madison Pride
N.E.W. Pride in Green Bay
Harmony Fest
Survivor Fest
Emani Robertson Community Day
Locust Street Bazaar
Harambee Health Fair
North Shore Night Out
Labor Fest
ECCHO Safe in Our Space Block Party
Milwaukee’s International Folk Fair
A variety of Farmer’s Markets in Madison and Milwaukee

We also collaborated with the Violence Policy Center to release Gun Death in Wisconsin, a report illuminating the impact of gun violence on both urban and rural areas of the state and the disproportionate devastation to Black and Brown communities. As a reminder that these numbers are not simply statistics, but are about real people, we worked with survivors who wanted to share their personal stories and included those in the report. 

Youth Engagement

WAVE launched our new Youth Advisory Board in 2024, composed primarily of former youth interns who wanted to stay engaged with gun violence prevention work year-round. These board members served as mentors to our 2024 Summer Youth Interns and worked alongside them as role models. 

Our Summer Youth Internship focused on exploring the various roles in nonprofit work, including policy, communications, development, and community work. Once the youth had worked with professionals approaching gun violence prevention work from all these angles, they planned their culminating event: Flags for Remembrance. Cafe Corazon generously agreed to donate their space and a portion of the proceeds from the evening to WAVE. The event featured live music, an interactive art project, and youth and adult speakers. 

WAVE interns stand behind a table covered in information about gun violence prevention. One intern is joined by family members.
Four youth sit at a table during a panel at the Gun Violence Summit. One is speaking into a microphone
WAVE interns speak on a panel
Four people stand in a row, each holding a sign with one letter. Together the letters spell VOTE.
A table with art supplies and painted rocks has people gahered around. Two young children are working on drawing or painting rocks.
WAVE youth interns organized a Flags for Remembrance event with music, speakers, and a children’s art project

We could not have accomplished so much this year without you! We are deeply grateful to our thousands of generous supporters and our organization partners, who make our work possible. Thank you!

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