Introducing the Whitney/Strong Legislative Fund

Two Organizations, One Mission to End Gun Violence and Save Lives

Supporters call me crazy, but I believe it is possible for us to change the world together. That change will be evidenced by clear data that gun deaths and injuries in this country are declining significantly and that the reduction is sustained.  I am excited to announce a new organization that will be singularly focused on legislative and grassroots advocacy efforts.  To read more about the Whitney/Strong Legislative Fund click here

-Whitney Austin

Our Beginning

On the morning of September 6th, 2018, I was immediately hit by bullets as I entered the revolving door at Fifth Third Bank headquarters. As I attempted to reach for my phone, I was shot again - 12 times in total. Resolving to play dead to increase my chance of survival, I slumped my body into the bottom of the revolving door and my mind started to race.

For months I had thought about volunteering with organized efforts to reduce gun violence. In fact, I received text messages and felt guilty that I signed up just to ignore them. As I crouched in that revolving door I thought about those text messages. I thought about how angry I was that I hadn’t done anything to prevent this exact situation from happening. Now, as a survivor, how do I reconcile that I lived as a result of nearly thousands of things going right and others died as a result of nearly thousands of things going wrong? I can’t. I can only say that I feel an undeniable force pushing me to tackle gun violence.

“How do I reconcile that I lived as a result of nearly thousands of things going right and others died as a result of nearly thousands of things going wrong?”

— whitney austin, co-FOUNDER

What is Whitney/Strong?  I can tell you what it’s not.  It is not another failed attempt to make progress on the issue of gun violence through partisanship or tone-deaf tactics meant to ostracize gun owners.  Our board consists of gun owners and non-gun owners, Republicans and Democrats. We do not believe that guns are bad or good. Those kinds of talking points are meant to divide us.  What we believe in is data and its ability to guide us in the right direction. We believe in conversations that unify. We believe we can do better, and we will do better together.

Read My Story →

Our Strategy

Whitney/Strong works with communities most impacted by gun violence on non-legislative solutions rooted in education. We offer evidence-based trainings including suicide prevention, firearm safety instruction, and STOP THE BLEED©.  There is no single reason why gun violence occurs, so we are committed to tackling this issue from multiple angles.

In the Media

Support

Please join with Whitney/Strong today by donating. Together we’ll be working with key stakeholders to drive conversations related to gun violence, as well as gathering data and leveraging findings to drive education solutions. We can prevent these tragedies from happening and I’m excited to take advantage of my second chance in life to make a meaningful difference. I can’t do it alone… but we can do it together. - Whitney