Meet SDSVP Investee, TKF Executive Director, Lisa Grogan!

By Paul Thiel

Although Lisa Grogan has no kids of her own, children have always been a deep passion for her. With that kind of passion, some become elementary school teachers, others may opt for a career in pediatrics. Grogan, the Executive Director of new SDSVP Investee Tariq Khamisa Foundation (TKF), headed to the other side of the tracks: she spent a dozen years as a probation administrator for juveniles.

“I like working with a vulnerable population -- I want to make a difference,” says Grogan. “And one of the attractions of coming to TKF was the opportunity to help kids before they enter the juvenile justice system.”

TKF, as the foundation is known, aims to stop the cycle of violence among kids. The foundation was started by Azim Khamisa shortly after his son Tariq, was shot and killed while delivering pizzas to earn money to pay his way through San Diego State University in 1995. Tariq’s assailant was 14-year-old gang recruit Tony Hicks, who became the first juvenile tried as an adult in California and is now serving 25-years-to-life sentence at Pelican Bay State Prison. He will be eligible for parole in 2027, when he is 46.

Like the foundation itself, Grogan began her journey to end youth violence at SDSU, where she majored in criminal justice while taking a minor in social work. While in school she started in the Volunteers in Probation program, and loved the work.

In her former position Grogan oversaw about 3,000 probationers at a time, learning how, for many kids, violence begets violence. “It often starts with the family – often a violent offender comes from a family with a lot of violence. It really is a cycle of violence.”

In addition, Grogan says, she learned why kids join gangs. It’s a matter of protection from others, belonging to a group and being targeted to join. In fact, Hicks was ordered to shoot Tariq by an 18-year-old leader of a gang he was being recruited to after running away from home.

“We try to show that there are other ways to deal with your anger – the answer is not violence,” she says. In addition, “one of the things we teach is forgiveness. Kids think that if they are treated violently they need to respond violently.”

Since inception TKF has reached over 8 million students in 12,000 schools across the nation via a documentary created by Channel One News, more than 300,000 students via in-school presentations and more than 70,000 students in San Diego via a live program, teaching hope, personal responsibility and forgiveness.

One of the several programs run by TKF is the Violence Impact Forum, a unique and powerful school-based violence prevention education program for students in the 4th -12th grades. The assembly includes a high-impact video with powerful speakers and lively student audience participation, focusing on the personal story of Tariq Khamisa, Tony Hicks and the lifelong consequences of one deadly choice.

Grogan sees SDSVP’s support as critical to TKF’s national aspirations. “When I came here I took the philosophy of running a nonprofit as much like a business as possible, and the idea of SDSVP is to marry corporate business strategy to the heart of a nonprofit for success.”

Having helped nearly 20,000 kids so far this year just in San Diego, managing a budget of $1.8 million and a staff of 12 permanament full time and 38 AmeriCorps Mentors, Grogan is well-positioned to lead TKF to national prominence – but with the help of the experts at SDSVP. “There is a monetary component to SDSVP, but the biggest value to us is working with all these incredible people and gaining the expertise the Partners have to move us to the next level.”


Quick 5 with Lisa Grogan

What have you read lately? Good to Great by Jim Collins, Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell

What is on your iPod? Kings of Leon, Lucinda Williams, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Marley, Pink

What do you watch? The First 48, Gangland, Discovery Channel, History Channel

If you could live somewhere else for 2 years, where would it be and why? I would buy a RV, live in it and travel the country for 2 years. There are so many sights, sounds, smells, and people I would love to experience around our great country. It would be a blast!

What do you do for fun? Travel to Mexico, going to concerts and going camping and fishing.