ILJ, together with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA), organized the Pickett Institute, a five-day training that aims to build capacity for research-driven, community-based strategic planning for criminal justice. Teams of approximately nine state and local criminal justice planners from Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas, came to Alexandria, Virginia for the training. The course covered such topics as assessing community readiness to plan and implement change, planning charters, collaborative models for planning and problem-solving, developing strategies, and implementing, evaluating, and sustaining projects. Trainers also presented skill-based models on such topics as visioning, facilitation skills, cultural competency, and using the internet for research. The active learning environment included exercises that gave teams an opportunity to use their skills on real-life project scenarios faced by their states and communities. ILJ and the federal agencies produced a comprehensive curriculum that will soon be available for state and local planners to use in their own communities.