Ana Toni discusses the Ford Foundation’s involvement in providing a forum for academia, civil society, the public sector, the private sector and the media to exchange ideas and research on policies such as the Pacifier Police Units (Unidade Pacificadora da Policia, UPP) and to more generally fight criminality in the favelas of Brazil. Toni focuses on the importance of comparative research and empirical methods in public security and community policing. She explains that the success of the UPPs hinged on community integration and leadership, a multidisciplinary approach, academic engagement in public security studies, and replacing political positioning with professional expertise. Finally, Toni discusses how the Ford Foundation gives marginalized peoples in Brazil a voice on social justice issues.