Safety Is Everyone's Responsibility
By Lori Alhadeff
Founder, Make Our Schools Safe
Collective impact matters deeply to Make Our Schools Safe because school safety cannot be achieved by one person, one organization, or one solution. It requires all of us working together with a shared purpose: protecting students and ensuring that every child can learn in an environment where they feel safe, supported, and secure.
After my daughter, Alyssa, was murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018, my life changed forever. I turned my grief into action by founding Make Our Schools Safe with a mission to help prevent another family from experiencing the devastating loss that my family lives with every day. Since then, I have seen firsthand the power of bringing people together to create meaningful change.
Collective impact means uniting students, parents, educators, school leaders, first responders, lawmakers, safety experts, businesses, and community partners around a common goal. Each brings a different perspective, experience, and area of expertise. When we listen to one another, share knowledge, and work toward solutions together, we can move beyond conversations and create real, lasting change.
That is also why I joined the Editorial Board of School Safety Quarterly. I want to contribute my voice, experience, and perspective to a community committed to advancing school safety. I believe sharing research, best practices, lessons learned, and real-world experiences can help leaders make better decisions and strengthen prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery in schools across the country.
For me, this work is deeply personal. I know the unimaginable pain of losing a daughter who should have been safe at school. Everything I do is driven by the hope that another mother will never have to endure the pain of having her daughter murdered in a place where she was supposed to be protected.
No single organization can solve school safety alone. But collectively, we can create a culture where safety is everyone’s responsibility, student voices are valued, leaders take action, and proven solutions are shared. Together, we can turn pain into purpose, purpose into action, and action into safer schools for every child. That is the collective impact I believe can save lives and futures.
