John McCoy Ph.D
Founder and Executive Director, Organization for the Prevention of Violence (OPV)
2022, 2023
John McCoy, Ph.D., is the founder and Executive Director of the Organization for the Prevention of Violence (OPV). For the past six years John has spearheaded the development of a research, education, and multi-disciplinary psycho-social intervention program (Evolve) that seeks to counter and prevent hate and extremism in the Canadian context. Previous to this role he lectured for nine years at the University of Alberta on the subjects of political violence and international politics. John has worked as an international consultant and expert on extremism and counter-extremism in the United States, Middle East, Europe, and the Caribbean. He is a Senior Research Affiliate at the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security & Society (TSAS) and has more than forty publications including op-eds, policy papers, academic articles and books.
This cannot be thought of as a conference or a summit. The stakes are simply too high and the data/conversation and methods to drive action more valuable/motivating than any gathering I have attended. I took more than 100 pages of notes and have shared them with my CBS News leadership team, anchors, producers, and correspondents. Nothing about this gathering was easy. The agony around this topic is real. But no one curious about it could ask for a more devoted, rational, or unflinching look into this dark but decipherable world.
