This Friday at the CT Convention Center from 8am-4pm:

In order to spur continuous progress in reducing youth violence in our communities, Communities Empowering Youth (CEY) is hosting its second annual Peace It Up conference! The conference is being sponsored by Communities Empowering Youth (CEY), which is a partnership initiative of Capital Workforce Partners & the City of Hartford’s Office for Youth Services. It is intended to bring together the many audiences that must be part of crafting solutions to the problem of youth violence: community providers, funders, youth, the faith community, workforce, policy makers and legislators.

Mayor Eddie A. Perez applauds the strong partnerships that are in place to benefit city youth. He says, “Having an adult providing a positive influence in the lives of our young people is the best prevention of violence. The ‘Peace It Up’ platform brings strong voices and stronger solutions to the issues facing urban areas.”

“We hope to continue to build the community dialogue that was started last year when 250 youth development professionals shared strategies for a more coordinated and unified approach designed for real change and real results,” says Thomas Phillips, President and CEO of Capital Workforce Partners and a CEY partner.

“Peace It Up!” aims to open our thinking about the issue of youth violence in our community by bringing a number of best practice models and approaches that have worked in different communities. While we can be informed by the successes of other communities, we know that we all must be involved in a solution that is uniquely “Hartford” in its approach. “All segments of our community must work together to craft a real solution to the problem of youth violence. We look forward to coming together as parents, youth, community agencies, city departments, funders and policy makers to develop new strategies to Peace It Up in Hartford,” says Enid Rey CEY partner, and Hartford’s Office for Youth Services Director.

This event will feature speaker and author Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith a renowned author and expert on youth violence. This is a conference that you will walk away amazed and encouraged with what is occurring in the arena of Youth Violence Prevention and to see how individuals, employers and community organizations can make a positive difference in the lives of our youth in the Hartford area.

This sounds interesting. Too bad it’s scheduled for a time when most people are either working or at school.