“We know there are examples out there where folks have had alternatives to police responding to homelessness, to mental health crises, to domestic violence—and that’s where we need to start this conversation … By acknowledging you can’t solve all social ills, you have to be willing to give up the resources so we can address the needs of our community. That has to be central.”—Devin Anderson, lead organizer for the African American Roundtable at Wisconsin Voices

“The first thing to do is listen and learn. … I think that the first thing to do is understand what we’re talking about and then to challenge yourself, your administration, the folks around you to dream big—and then dream bigger … talk to other folks that have done it. There are a lot of individuals—7,000 communities—across the globe that have done participatory budgeting and really move from imagination to action.”—Shari Davis, executive director of the Participatory Budgeting Project, Obama Fellow

“Don’t let fear win. I keep hearing and seeing messages and conversations that are rooted in fear and we can never move forward—and be bold in our solutions—if people are operating from a space of us against them, or if we do shift investment that somebody’s going to lose. We have to keep the community at the center and heart of our work and move with courage. We also have to understand that it’s not just the absence of violence that we should be working towards. It has to be the presence of justice and opportunity and understanding that speed moves at the speed of trust.”—Reggie Moore, director of the City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention

“Look and see what people are calling 9-1-1 for. That will be illuminating, not just for the mayor, for the whole community. It will open up the door for the conversations in terms of, ‘OK, what’s the best way to meet this need?’ … That just opens all the conversations to be courageous and bold and to act on the data.”—Michael Tubbs, mayor of Stockton, California

“Document and evaluate your work. Everything that you’re going to be doing in terms of reaching out to that community, it is very important that you know, what was done, what worked, what didn’t work. That way, next time you want to put together a community project, you can learn from the mistakes you made. Keep doing the things that worked really well. Keep reaching out to the people who are staying involved—and if someone wasn’t as involved that you originally reached out to, then figure out what are those things that are blocking their engagement and blocking their involvement.”—Sagacity Walker, program manager at Everyday Democracy

“We’re a large city, but we still have a small-town atmosphere and we try to make every effort we can to work with all. So the advice is, dig into your budgets and figure out what are you actually doing. Are you taking advantage of your parks? Are you taking advantage of your community centers? Are you working with all your nonprofit organizations or all your organizations to bring them to the table and get input?”—Acquanetta Warren, mayor of Fontana, California