elise white, phD

Elise White, PhD, is the Executive Director and a Principal Researcher at Community Insight Collaborative. For more than 20 years, she has worked at the intersection of research, policy, and community organizing, partnering with communities, practitioners, and public- and nonprofit-sector leaders to better understand challenges to community safety and well-being and develop evidence-informed approaches to addressing them. She has extensive experience leading small- and large-scale exploratory studies and program evaluations, as well as providing research and subject-matter technical assistance to practitioners and organizations across the country. Areas of particular expertise include community violence, gender-based violence, the sex trade and sex trafficking, and youth justice. Prior to founding Community Insight Collaborative, she served as Senior Director of Research at the Center for Justice Innovation, where she provided methodological and strategic leadership for the organization’s national research portfolio and research agenda. She holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.

basaime spate

Basaime Spate is a Research Associate at Community Insight Collaborative who brings nearly 15 years of experience working at the intersection of community violence prevention and research. His perspective is grounded in extensive frontline experience working with individuals and communities at high risk for gun violence, as well as in applied research on violence prevention and community safety. Over the past decade, Basaime has participated in research on youth gun violence in major U.S. cities, gun violence program evaluations, and community safety needs assessments. Prior to becoming a researcher, he spent five years as an outreach worker and hospital responder with a Cure Violence program, where he served as a credible messenger, managed a caseload of individuals at high risk for gun violence, developed individualized risk-reduction plans, and helped identify and respond to community hot spots associated with shootings and other violence.

andrew martinez, MSW, phd

Andrew Martinez, M.S.W., Ph.D., is a Principal Researcher with Community Insight Collaborative and an Adjunct Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work. Dr. Martinez is a scholar-practitioner whose research focuses on youth justice, youth firearm involvement, community violence, and criminal legal system reform, with additional expertise in school safety and discipline. He has led multi-site research and evaluation initiatives in local, state, national, and international contexts, partnering with government agencies, schools, and community-based organizations. His work centers on communities disproportionately impacted by violence and justice-system involvement, with particular expertise in justice-involved youth, trauma-exposed communities, and youth firearm carrying. He has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and serves as a contributing scholar to the American Psychological Association Task Force on Violence Against Educators and School Personnel. He holds a Ph.D. in Community Psychology and a Master of Social Work degree.

javonte alexander

Javonte Alexander is a Research Associate at Community Insight Collaborative with deep experience conducting community-engaged research on urban gun violence. His work is distinguished by his ability to build trust and establish meaningful relationships with street-involved youth and other populations that are often difficult to reach through traditional research approaches. Over the past eight years, Javonte has participated in all aspects of several mixed-methods studies of youth gun violence in major U.S. cities, including data collection, interviews, and other field-based research activities. He has also conducted interviews and site visits as part of gun violence program evaluations and contributed to community safety needs assessments. His experience working directly with young people and communities affected by violence strengthens CIC’s ability to conduct research that is both rigorous and grounded in community knowledge and experience.

rachel swaner, mpA, phd