Let’s Make the Cure Contagious
Meet Dr. Echols at CVG’s virtual Gala on June 2 at 7pm EDT
May 16, 2022
Special Press Release
The Board of Directors of Cure Violence Global is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Fredrick Echols as its new Chief Executive Officer. After an extensive search, Dr. Echols was selected to lead CVG as it scales its operations in the U.S. and globally. He will assume his role as CEO effective May 23, 2022.
Dr. Echols comes to Cure Violence Global from St. Louis where, as Health Commissioner and Acting Health Director, he had oversight responsibilities for the Cure Violence program.
Prior to his positions in the city of St. Louis, Dr. Echols was the Director of Communicable Disease, Emergency Preparedness, Vector & Veterinary Programs for St. Louis County and before that he served as the Chief of Communicable Diseases for the Illinois Department of Public Health. He brings a passion for and commitment to public health, experience addressing root causes of disparities at the population health level, and a deep familiarity with treating violence as a contagious process. As CEO, Dr. Echols will provide strategic leadership, oversee day-to-day operations, and engage proactively with all CVG’s partners to further CVG’s mission of reducing violence globally using an evidence-informed health approach and epidemic-control methods and in pursuance of Cure Violence Global’s vision of a World Without Violence.
Dr. Echols succeeds Dr. Gary Slutkin, the founding CEO of CVG, who will remain actively involved in Cure Violence Global as a member of the CVG Board of Directors.
Under Dr. Slutkin’s leadership, Cure Violence evolved from an insight to a proven concept and increasingly widely adopted approach. CVG teams designed, piloted, replicated, and demonstrated both the scientific validity and effectiveness of the public health/epidemic control approach to violence reduction. The Cure Violence approach is currently being implemented in over 30 cities in the U.S. and Latin America and is being adapted to address other types of violence including gender-based violence, election and political violence, and violence in conflict zones. Over the years, CVG has worked with partners in the U.S., Latin America & the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
CVG is ranked the No. 9 NGO in the world by NGO Advisor, and 1st among organizations devoted to reducing violence. In eight independent evaluations and over 20 studies, the Cure Violence health approach has been shown to be effective at reducing violence and improving the lives of people living in communities most heavily impacted by violence.
We would like to thank our supporters all over the world for believing in this critical mission and we count on your continued partnership and support as we grow and scale our operations. Please join us in celebrating the pioneering work of Dr. Slutkin, which laid the foundation for the now widespread acceptance of the health approach to violence, and in warmly welcoming Dr. Echols as Cure Violence Global’s new CEO.
Meet Dr. Echols at CVG’s virtual Gala on June 2 at 7pm EDT
