“Powerful advocate”
Longtime anti-gang activist departing city for a new role, but his legacy will remain
Francisco Gallardo’s work as an anti-gang activist started nearly 30 years ago in a tense meeting room in the basement of Denver’s city hall.
He and a few dozen other current and former gang members gathered there to discuss gang violence that was claiming an increasing number of lives. The young men — all in their late teens and early 20s — represented different neighborhoods but were all frustrated by the deaths. They started each meeting with a moment of silence for friends who had been killed or locked up.
“That was the one thing in common,” said Gallardo, who goes by Cisco. “We realized that we had all lost homies.”
Those meetings eventually turned into the nonprofit Gang Rescue and Support Project, known as GRASP, and set
Gallardo on a career path that would lead the former gang member to become a sought-out expert in antigang work. In the 28 years since he helped found the group, Gallardo has become a pillar in efforts to stem gang violence in Denver. He’s worked with thousands of Denver’s young people, organized peace marches between rival gangs, led support groups and served on numerous city boards and community groups.
But now, Gallardo is moving on from his beloved hometown. Last week, Gallardo stepped down as GRASP’s executive director as he moves to a new role in California. He recently married a social worker there and was offered a job with the National Compadres Network. While the 48-year-old will spend most of his time in California, he’ll still have work in Denver, including as an adviser to GRASP.
“This is my city,” Gallardo said. “I love it. More than words can ever say. I’m sure I’m going to be crazy homesick.”
He struggled to make the decision to step away from something he built from the ground up, especially amid an uptick in violence among Denver’s young people. He feels that he’s needed more than ever, but also knows there will always be more work to do.
“There’s always going to be an ebb and flow of violence,” he said. “We always struggle with our sense of duty.”
“Just a hope and a dream”
Gallardo grew up in Sunnyside and joined a gang as a teen. He was eventually kicked out of North High School for a gun incident on campus and later was arrested with a significant amount of cocaine. He avoided a lengthy prison sentence after community members convinced the judge to give him a second chance.
He was sentenced to probation and finished out his high school education at an alternative school, Escuela Tlatelolco, while living in a halfway house.
“They gave me cultural heritage, and how important it is to give back to the younger generation,” 18year-old Gallardo said of his school in his graduation speech, as captured in a 1991 Rocky Mountain News article.
After he graduated, he immediately went to work implementing those lessons.
He launched a magazine focused on Chicano culture and an arts program for teenagers. That same year he graduated, he and other young people who recently had left gangs started talking about solutions to rising violence. Those conversations eventually led to the creation of GRASP.
“At one point it was just a hope and a dream,” Gallardo said. “We hoped to do this. Now, we’re an actual established pillar in the Denver community when it comes to gangs and healing work.”
Gallardo also was key in forming the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver, the Metro Denver Gang Coalition and an intervention program run out of Denver Health that connects with at-risk teens who have been shot or stabbed.
“Trying to keep the city safe”
Gallardo’s work is crucial toward creating a safe city because he is able to connect with young people in a way that police officers and city officials cannot, said Denver police Chief Paul Pazen.
The two grew up at the same time in north Denver, though they took different paths. Pazen joined the Marine Corps after school while Gallardo flirted with prison time before becoming a community leader. Over the last decade, the two have reconnected as they worked together to prevent violence.
“There’s a lot of pride of being from that same neighborhood and culture,” Pazen said.
“That’s part of why I want to give back, and I feel he has the same kind of inner drive. It’s part of that background and culture that is created there. People look out for one another. People care for one another.”
When Pazen was sworn in as chief in 2018, he invited Gallardo to begin the ceremony with a prayer.
“I felt that it was extremely important that two Northsiders were here trying to keep the city safe,” Pazen said. “He’s given back not only to that community, but to all parts of this city and the metro area for that matter.”
Gallardo also served on numerous city and community boards, including the community board that oversees the city’s law enforcement watchdog agency, the Office of the Independent Monitor.
Gallardo could be quiet sometimes but people listened when he spoke, Independent Monitor Nick Mitchell said.
“We’re losing a powerful advocate who’s been working for many years to make Denver a better, safer city that‘s addressing the needs of communities that often aren’t part of the conversation, or aren’t getting enough attention,” Mitchell said.
Serving on boards and being a visible leader in Denver was important because it showed the young people he mentored that people like them can be important community members and create change, Gallardo said.
“If I’m going to go to the grocery store, I’m going to see my clients, because I am my clients,” he said. “I am them.”
Longtime GRASP leader Johnnie Williams will take
Gallardo’s position as executive director of the nonprofit organization. Gallardo also will leave behind dozens of others working in violence prevention who learned from him.
“Just flat out, I’m going to miss him. He’s just a joy to be around. He just has infinite knowledge,” said Jason McBride, who works at GRASP. “He helped me be who I’m trying to be in this community. He’s shown me how.”