Sandy Hook Promise – Know the Signs

On Monday, December 1, from 4-5pm EST, the College of Social Work is hosting Nicole Hockley, the co-founder and CEO of the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation. Ms. Hockley chose to transform unspeakable grief and anguish into action after her youngest son, Dylan, was murdered in his first-grade classroom during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.

Today, U.S. youth are facing two crises: gun violence, the #1 cause of death for youth under 18, and increasing rates of youth suicide, the #2 cause of death. But these tragedies are not inevitable. Violence is preventable when you know the signs and say something. Sandy Hook Promise’s award-winning, evidence-informed “Know the Signs” programs teach youth and adults to recognize warning signs of potential violence, self-harm, and suicide and when and how to get help to intervene. These early prevention measures are proven to empower students and educators to keep schools and communities safe. Come hear more about what the warning signs are and how you can help reverse these deadly trends.

You can register for this event through Zoom here.

About the Speaker

Nicole Hockley chose to transform unspeakable grief and anguish into action after her youngest son, Dylan, was murdered in his first-grade classroom during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. As the co-founder and CEO of the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation (SHPF), Nicole works every day to protect children from violence. SHPF is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Under Nicole’s leadership, the research-driven Know the Signs violence prevention programs were created and are available to schools at no cost. More than 35 million have participated in these life-saving programs in schools and youth organizations nationwide. As a result, countless acts of violence have been averted — including at least 18 planned school attacks — saving precious lives and helping youth get much-needed mental health support.

Nicole is a leading voice on school safety and gun violence prevention. She is a sought-after keynote speaker and commenter. Her opinion editorials have been published by Newsweek, CNN, USA Today, and InStyle, and her commentary has been featured in CNN, MSNBC, Newsy, ABC, CBS, and NBC news coverage, among countless other media outlets. Driven by Nicole’s extensive background in strategic marketing, Sandy Hook Promise is rapidly becoming a household name. The award-winning and provocative PSA campaigns she helped co-create with BBDO New York have amassed hundreds of millions of views worldwide, including “Evan” which generated two billion impressions and 10 coveted Cannes Lions Awards, “Back-to-School Essentials,” and “Teenage Dream” which both earned prestigious Emmy Awards for Best Commercial in 2019, and 2021, respectively.

In 2024, Nicole was appointed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal School Safety Clearinghouse External Advisory Board as a Representative Member. She also began serving on the Issue Advisory Council for the Ad Council’s gun violence prevention initiative with a coalition of healthcare leaders and subject matter experts. Nicole received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Trinity College in 2023, for her humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society and Doctor of Laws degree from Fairfield University in 2022. In December of 2022, Nicole joined as a member of John Hopkins University’s Implementation Working Group for the National ERPO Resource Center. In late 2023, Nicole became a member of the Violence Project Advisory Board. In 2016, she was recognized by People magazine as one of 25 Women Changing the World. But her favorite recognition is for being the best Mom she can to her surviving son, Jake.

Nicole’s solemn “promise” to honor her son and the other 25 lives taken on December 14, 2012 with action has never wavered. She continues to spread awareness that violence is preventable when you “know the signs.”