Cincinnati — SAFE Cincinnati, a program of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati and the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, has been awarded the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) for their service to the people of Greater Cincinnati.

FBI Director Christopher Wray presented the award during a special ceremony in Washington D.C. on Friday, May 5, 2023. Danielle V. Minson, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, accepted the award on behalf of SAFE Cincinnati, a community-wide initiative to improve Jewish Cincinnati’s readiness to deal with security threats and natural disasters.

“We know that the work SAFE Cincinnati does is absolutely critical to keeping our Jewish community safe and secure,” said Minson. “As incidents and threats of antisemitism keep rising, it’s an honor for SAFE Cincinnati to be recognized at the highest level for what they do locally to make Cincinnati a safe environment for all.”

The FBI established the DCLA in 1990 to publicly acknowledge the achievements of those working to make a difference in their communities through the promotion of education and the prevention of crime and violence. The FBI’s 56 field offices select the recipients annually for this honor.

SAFE Cincinnati provides local Jewish agencies and congregations the tools needed to respond to threats, violence, and emergencies. In 2022, SAFE Cincinnati provided security, emergency preparedness, and improved communications for more than 40 Cincinnati-area Jewish nonprofit organizations. The group also regularly shares information with other minority communities to increase the safety and security of all those in the region.

“The significant work of SAFE Cincinnati has strongly benefitted the Jewish community, other minority groups, and law enforcement in our region,” stated J. William Rivers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cincinnati Field Office. “Collaborating with SAFE Cincinnati on a regular basis enables the FBI to better protect the community.”

During the ceremony, Director Christopher Wray told recipients, "Like the 38,000 employees of the FBI, you don’t do what you do for fame - and certainly not for fortune. You do it out of kindness, out of compassion for others, out of a hope and a dream for safer communities....to leave your towns and cities better places than when you got there.  And that’s how I’ve defined success here within our organization, too. Success to me is if everyone leaves the FBI a better place than they found it."

Director Wray hosted the 2022 DCLA winners in a special ceremony at FBI Headquarters. Minson was joined at the ceremony by SAFE Cincinnati’s Director of Community Security Mark Dowd, Intelligence Reports Specialist Ariel Cohen, OS/INT Intelligence Analyst Katherine Wyant and Director of Community Property Management Robert Clayton. These partnerships—as exemplified by the breadth of the work by the DCLA recipients—have led to a host of crime prevention programs that protect the most vulnerable in our communities, educate families and businesses about cyber threats, and work to reduce violent crime in our neighborhoods. Learn more about the Director’s Community Leadership Award program https://www.fbi.gov/dcla2022.