The People, Community, and Friends of Wisdom Projects

Miss tree turtle | Cleis Abeni, President (CLICK HERE for bio and affiliations).

Ms. Sharon Williams, Member (CLICK HERE for bio and affiliations).

Ms. Laura Orem, Secretary (CLICK HERE for bio and affiliations).

Mr. Matthew D. Jackson, Treasurer (former LSW (licensed social worker) with extensive nonprofit healing and caring experience, and current licensed pharmacology health professional with CVS).

The Youth Peacemakers are a group of trained grassroots community health workers and youth leaders between the ages of 14 and 24 who uplift nonviolence and peacemaking in East Baltimore, receiving weekly or monthly stipends. Some of these youth appear in anti-violence campaign videos on our website and social media, We adhere to HIPAA, FERPA, and MPIPA laws to protect their identities and enrollment data. The youth featured here gave us permission to share themselves in a limited fashion on our website. Youth Peacemakers work in our afterschool program and receive pre-career/pre-college mentoring and workforce development training as well as ongoing education in trauma-informed care, conflict resolution, restorative justice, de-escalation, Social and Emotional Learning, and peer/community counseling. They spread the good news of peacemaking within their homes, schools, and neighborhoods within targeted campaigns by word-of-mouth and by video. 

The Parent Peacemakers are a group of leading, grassroots mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers who work to cultivate peace in East Baltimore as trained Community Health Workers (CHWs). Several help co-found Wisdom Projects' activities in East Baltimore.

Several Parent Peacemakers receive stipends for creating and implementing policies and practices for peacemaking and wellness in their community. Their grassroots abolitionist community-organizing and leadership is responsible for many milestones that have reduced violence, provided alternatives to mass incarceration, and uplifted wellness in East Baltimore. Some of these peacemakers appear in videos on the impact page of our website. 

Anti-violence programming often involves managing stigma and censure towards community members involved in peacemaking and  protecting people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. Consequently, we adhere to HIPAA, FERPA, and MPIPA laws and keep most Peacemakers' identities confidential. Individuals depicted on this website and in our videos agreed to the release of their images. 

We are deeply grateful to our present and past individual and organizational supporters and funders, including the NoVo Foundation, Circle for Justice Innovations’ Leadership Circle, New York Life Foundation, Afterschool Alliance, the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, Gunpowder Friends, the Miles White Beneficial Society, the Black Trans Fund, Youth As Resources, the Baltimore Development Corporation, Education First, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, and Individual Donors via Patreon.

In memoriam

We mourn the loss and celebrate the lives of the following supporters and individual funders:

Dr. Ernest Morrell (1971-2026).

Mr. Gregory Turnipseed (1954-2025). 

Mr. Christian Holder (1949-2025).

Dr. Gladys McGarey (1920-2024).

Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan (1942-2019).

Dr. Drid Williams (1928-2018).

Dr. Vera Maletic (1925-2015).

These wonderful people's seed funding, project funding, postion funding, and individual donations (either by direct giving or by their estate in behest) helped launch and sustain our work in Baltimore and beyond.

Please CLICK HERE if you are moved to become a supporter and friend.

Click here for detailed information about volunteering.

Over the course of its history, Wisdom Projects has welcomed volunteers from a variety of groups, including AmeriCorps, local universities, and medical centers. 

We welcome volunteers who are looking to enhance their understanding of community organizing, community healing, and community education for peace, justice, and wellness. 

We ask that volunteers undergo at least three training sessions with us and become a regular monthly Patreon supporter (for as little as $5 per month) to help fund our trainings and activities. 

Training for volunteers is essential because we work with vulnerable populations that demand specialized, safe, and culturally-competent engagement. 

Insofar as we work to prevent violence in sensitive situations, we ask that volunteers sign an agreement to hold us harmless for risks and liabilities, and to maintain strict confidentiality, nondisclosure, and non-disparagement under HIPAA, FERPA, and MPIPA regulations.