Beyond Gun Politics is an initiative of the Guns Grief and Grace Coalition in partnership with Mental Health America. The coalition is made up of leaders from the five county greater Milwaukee area. This thoughtful group is passionate about community engagement and collaboration to create respectful dialogue about gun violence prevention.
The founding members of Beyond Gun Politics began their work in this initiative through promoting New Moon Production’s award-winning Guns, Grief & Grace in America documentary project. This work birthed the vision for a community connection around preventing gun violence, and promoted the idea for the creating this toolkit.
The goal is to create a healthy, non-political conversation that will change the ways individuals talk, act and think about gun violence (specifically, prevention of suicide, homicide, domestic violence, mass and unintentional shootings.) As Beyond Gun Politics continues to grow in the Greater Milwaukee area, the coalition hopes to branch out to urban, suburban, small town and rural communities throughout the country to engage in non-partisan civil dialogue.
Beyond Gun Politics is committed to helping your community bring better ways to think, act and talk about gun violence.
Steering Committee
Janet Fitch is an award-winning documentarian, focused on applying lenses of race, class, gender, geography and generations to interrupt the world of polarizing frameworks. Fitch offers a fresh glimpse of expanded critical thinking and sensible solutions to societal problems. Her first co-producer role in documentary was: Through One City’s Eyes: Race Relations in America’s Heartland (PBS 1999). The film’s award-winning community engagement campaign was also the topic of Fitch’s Masters Thesis in Journalism. At a time when creating community engagement with documentary film was an emerging field, Fitch was awed by the possibilities and potential for serious impact. More recently, Fitch directed the award-winning, 3-part documentary series, Guns, Grief and Grace in America, where she depolarizes discussion of gun violence by redirecting focus to a frame of Public Health prevention. Recognition of her work at the intersection of the arts and social change includes a wide range of venues, accolades and awards, including the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award in Public Policy. Fitch’s films have aired on National PBS and Public Television and screened at multiple film festivals, winning awards in both film and engagement categories. Fitch’s proficiency with engagement and impact continues to flourish as her films live long productive lives, serving as tools for deliberative dialogue around the issues of our times.
Mark Flower is a United States Army Veteran a Staff Sargent. In his 17 year career, he held 3 months in 11B Infantry, 19E Armor and 91B Medic a Vet in recovery, and an Advocate for change. Flower is currently a community engagement consultant at the Medical Collage of Wisconsin. He is also active with the Milwaukee VA, a co-founder of Dryhootch of America, and very involved with Milwaukee area veterans—working as the Veteran Peer Coordinator for Milwaukee County Veterans Court and helping with the new state wide Veterans Peer Respite. Flower continues to advocate for Veterans health and wellbeing in the community through his involvement with the Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) (VA). He advocates for Veterans engagement as a partner in research, and is a member of the Expert Technical Forum Center Information Dissemination and Education Resources (CIDER) (VA). In addition, Flower works with the Rocky Mountain MIRECC for Veteran Suicide Prevention (VA). Much of his work and experience is instrumental in suicide prevention for Beyond Gun Politics.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Section of Emergency Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Dr. Michael Levas practices through the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Since joining the faculty in 2011, Dr. Levas has been intimately involved with health care disparities, youth violence, and injury prevention policy and research. He is the assistant medical director of Project Ujima, one of the premier hospital based youth violence prevention/intervention program in the United States. He currently serves as Vice Chair of Diversity in the Department of Pediatrics and as Deputy Director of the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He further co-chairs the Injury Reduction Initiative at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
Dr. Levas is a local product from the south side of Milwaukee, and graduated from Saint Norbert College in De Pere, WI. Following graduation from the Medical College of Wisconsin, he completed his residency and fellowship training in Kansas City, MO. Dr. Levas also has his Masters in Clinical and Translational Science from the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Dr. Marlene Melzer-Lange is a board certified pediatric emergency medicine physician. She has a special interest in the care of adolescents in the emergency department, injury prevention and the care of violently-injured youth. She looks for opportunities to improve care in the pediatric emergency department, including team building, flow, and aftercare of patients who are discharged from the emergency department.
Dr. Melzer-Lange’s research interests include violence prevention in the community setting, outcomes of youth who have been violently injured, and emergency department screening of adolescents for protective and risk factors including violence, mental health, and drug and alcohol. She provides advocacy for patients and families through her work on the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Violence, Injury and Poisoning Prevention, the Wisconsin Medical Society and the Milwaukee County Medical Society. She enjoys working with residents and medical students to help them learn how to optimally care for the child and family. Dr. Melzer-Lange is a strong advocate for patients and families as they present to the pediatric emergency department.
Brian Michel joined Mental Health America of Wisconsin as Director of Prevention Services in August 2018. He administers programming and statewide grants to implement suicide prevention activities and align regional coalition efforts to the common goal of reducing suicide rates in Wisconsin. This includes coordinating training to improve suicide screening and assessment in healthcare settings, educating community stakeholders on reducing access to lethal means, and developing strategies to reach underserved populations affected by suicide. Michel also serves as Program Director for the R&R House, a Peer-Run Respite operated by MHA which will provide peer support to individuals who served in the armed forces and are seeking respite during times of increased stress or challenges in their recovery from mental health or substance use issues. The R&R House is expected to open in Fall 2019.
Prior to joining MHA, Michel practiced law at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, providing no-cost legal services to low-income residents of Milwaukee County, specializing in eviction defense, unemployment appeals, and consumer protection issues. While working with mental health reform committees, he developed knowledge about the toll of trauma on individuals involved with the justice system. Michel began his legal career as a prosecutor in Milwaukee County, working with victims and law enforcement to protect individuals from battery, armed disorderly conduct, and domestic violence. Michel grew up in Milwaukee, obtained his BBA in Marketing from UW-Milwaukee in 2006, and his J.D. from Notre Dame in 2012. He lives with his partner and their dog, Norm, and shares custody of her teenage son.
Associate Researcher, Center for Urban Population Health, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Kaija L Zusevics, MPH, PhD, CHES, is an Associate Researcher at the Center for Urban Population Health. Her work includes conducting community-engaged research and evaluation projects in southeastern Wisconsin, participating in coalitions and community initiatives to improve health outcomes among diverse populations and teaching and mentoring public health students. Many of her projects focus on improving youth health outcomes. Kaija applies key tenets from the Community Based Participatory Research approach as she works with community, non-profit, and governmental agencies to understand and seek to solve complex social and health challenges. She has presented at local and national conferences and has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Advisory Board
COMING SOON!