How 1 minority-owned organization in Akron hopes to inspire conflict resolution

AKRON, Ohio — Leaders of an Akron-based organization said they hope to bring a solution to the growing violence and conflict they said they see in their community through crisis intervention and de-escalation.

“The way things are, it shouldn’t be,” said Bertram Griggs, co-founder of the GentleWay Institute.

Even the most recent incident at Akron Firestone High School, in which an Akron Police School Resource Officer (SRO) hit a high school student three times in the head after police said the teenager tried to avoid school metal detectors, is what Griggs and Akron Mayor Shammas Malik sound disturbing.

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“I found the video upsetting. I expect many more,” Malik said on October 21.

Because of that, Griggs told News 5 he’s on a mission to change Akron’s narrative through his work at the GentleWay Institute.

It’s an organization he said he and his childhood friend Ron Mosley founded together in 2022 to rethink crisis prevention training and redesign how conflict management education is delivered.

“We want to leave a legacy and a mark that we did something to correct some of these situations where you have an adult harming a younger person or a younger person harming an adult or adults harming each other,” a Griggs said.

So far, Griggs said their organization has partnered with different cities and groups across the country, including right here with Akron Public Schools, to help people interact in a peaceful way through safety, trust, engagement and self-care.

“We meet with the people who are in charge, they tell us what they want, and we mix it all up and get as close as we can to what they want,” Griggs said.

In the wake of the incident at Akron Firestone High School, Griggs hopes to reconnect with the district and expand his reach to other organizations.

“It’s not dark or anything, but it’s kind of cloudy, so we want to lighten that up and make it a little bit brighter than what it is,” Griggs said.

If you want to know more about their organization, CLICK HERE.