Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel stood at the Obama Presidential Center on Thursday evening, flanked by participants and alumni of two youth mentoring programs, to make the case that a model born in Chicago classrooms helped pull the city back from one of its most violent stretches in decades. The event ran from 5 to 7 p.m. and doubled as both a victory lap for a program he has championed for more than a decade and another data point in his slow-building, still-undecided path toward 2028.
A Program Emanuel Credits With Changing the Trajectory
Emanuel appeared alongside participants and alumni from the Becoming a Man and Working on Womanhood mentoring programs, according to WGN-TV. He told the crowd that despair had been replaced with hope and that young people were beginning to believe in themselves again, per the same report. The former mayor credited Becoming a Man with helping address a surge in violence the city experienced in 2016, as reported by ABC7 Chicago.
That year, Chicago reported 762 homicides and roughly 4,300 shootings, its highest totals in two decades, per WGN-TV. By the end of Emanuel's tenure as mayor, the city had recorded 561 homicides, and last year Chicago logged 416 homicides, its lowest total in six decades, the station's report notes. Emanuel declined to comment on current Mayor Brandon Johnson's strategy for fighting crime, saying instead that he does not comment on his predecessor or successor and that he simply roots for Chicago and its people, per the same account. He did acknowledge that Johnson is invested in youth programming and social services, according to the outlet.
From 800 Participants to a National Model
Developed by the local nonprofit Youth Guidance, Becoming a Man offers one-hour, once-per-week group sessions held during the school day to help students recognize their own thinking patterns and respond differently to conflict, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The program grew from serving 800 young men to now reaching more than 20,000 young men in grades 7 through 12, per WGN-TV, with some participants going on to graduate college and enter careers, the station reports.
The University of Chicago Crime Lab and Education Lab partnered with the City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools and Youth Guidance for more than a decade to run four randomized controlled trials and a qualitative study of the program. The first study, conducted in 2008 and 2009, found that Becoming a Man reduced violent-crime arrests by 45% and increased on-time high-school graduation rates by 19%, the Crime Lab reports. A second study covering 2013 and 2014 found a 50% reduction in violent-crime arrests, and across all four trials the research found the program can cut violent crime by up to 37% while improving school engagement by 0.03 to 0.08 standard deviations.
After that first study was published, Becoming a Man drew more than $100 million in new public-sector investment and expanded into schools in Boston, Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles and London, according to the Crime Lab. The program is now offered in eight cities nationwide, per Youth Guidance, which designed it around weekly small-group circles led by a counselor that combine clinical practice, youth engagement and experiential learning for young men in grades 7 through 12.
A White House Connection and a Bipartisan Book
In 2013, President Barack Obama invited dozens of Becoming a Man participants and leaders to the White House, and the initiative later inspired Obama's My Brother's Keeper effort, according to ABC7 Chicago. The University of Chicago's Education Lab notes that My Brother's Keeper now operates in 35 states. Emanuel is also the author of a bipartisan book titled Do What Works, which highlights Becoming a Man, per WGN-TV, and while mayor he launched the Mayor's Mentoring Initiative, investing $36 million in mentoring programs across Chicago, according to the Crime Lab.
Weighing a 2028 Run With No Deadline in Sight
Emanuel, who served as Chicago's mayor from 2011 to 2019, has spent more than a year traveling the country while weighing a possible 2028 presidential run, ABC7 Chicago reports, and he said he has no deadline for making that decision. Before City Hall, he served as Barack Obama's chief of staff from 2009 to 2010, was a senior advisor to former President Bill Clinton, and later served as U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2022 to 2025 under former President Joe Biden.
He told WGN-TV that the Democratic Party could benefit from a large debate among a dozen presidential candidates, and said he intends to run as the rocky-road option among many candidates, distancing himself from socialists within the party. In the meantime, he has been recruiting Democratic House candidates and helping guide their campaigns, according to The New York Times, traveling to swing districts to offer private guidance on campaign ads, events and messaging as he focuses on helping Democrats flip Republican-held seats, per ABC7 Chicago.
Emanuel has also spoken directly about his faith on the national stage. On Meet the Press this past Sunday, he said he believes America is ready for a Jewish president, telling the program, “If my faith is a problem for you, don't vote for me,” according to NBC News. He's scheduled to appear on a NewsNation town hall Tuesday night, where the discussion will center on the economy and issues important to voters, per WGN-TV; the two-hour Decision Desk 2026 town hall is set to air at 8 p.m. ET and will cover the cost of living, affordability, housing, jobs and the economy, according to TVNewsCheck.
