TCWF's California Peace Prize Awardees Recognized for Violence Prevention Efforts

n December 1, 2000, TCWF presented its 2000 California Peace Prize Award to three people whose outstanding efforts have helped to promote peace and address the root causes of violence in local communities across the state. These individuals each received $25,000 in recognition of their work. 

Father Gregory Boyle, Los Angeles
Father Gregory Boyle has dedicated the last 14 years to improving the lives of the predominantly Latino youth in Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights community. By his count, the neighborhood has 60 gangs and 10,000 gang members.

“The problem is not that kids aren’t scared enough, it’s that kids aren’t hopeful enough,” said Father Boyle, whose motto is, “nothing stops a bullet like a job.”

After finding that employers were reluctant to hire youth with a history of gang involvement or on probation, he founded Jobs For A Future/Homeboy Industries. This multifaceted program composed of six businesses gives real job experience to youth who once thought gang life was their only future. In addition, youth can access tattoo removal and permanent job placement services. These economic opportunities provide the basis for a productive and peaceful future for participating young people.

Matt Sanchez, Santa Barbara
Matt Sanchez was formerly a gang leader known to the Santa Barbara Police Department as a  “leading troublemaker.” Now a leader for peace, Sanchez established Hoods in the Woods in 1991, Santa Barbara’s first grassroots effort to prevent gang violence. 

“Every young person is unique and they all have some gift inside them to impart to others,” Sanchez said. “We have to do our part to bring that out.”

Sanchez’s Hoods in the Woods serves as an intervention and prevention model, bringing together would-be rival gang members on camping trips. The volunteer program provides youth with mentors and teaches them how to resolve conflicts peacefully. 

The program has proven to be an effective and constructive alternative for neighborhood gang members and also helps deter many young people from joining gangs.

Gianna Tran, Oakland
As an adolescent, Gianna Tran fled Vietnam for Oakland with a perspective on violence shaped by the war. Tran has dedicated more than 10 years of her life working with Asian and Pacific Islander youth in the city of Oakland. 

Committed to making Oakland a healthier place to live, she joined the East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) where she counseled Southeast Asian youth who had negative behavior patterns and gang affiliations on how to resolve problems. 

“The violence from the war is deep rooted and it’s an ongoing struggle for us, passed on to our young people,” Tran said.

Tran worked to build alliances with other ethnic communities in an effort to reduce gang violence. Currently the associate director for EBAYC, Tran has become a leading expert on gangs and a proponent for building multiracial collaboratives as a means of establishing and maintaining peace.

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