Great Futures Forum Part 2!

On July 22 and 23, 2021, from 9 AM-1 PM at the Hospitality Center at MGCCC, we had many of our members, staff, and community partners attend and hear from our 4 speakers and special guests! The GREAT Futures Forum focuses on how communities are impacted by youth and community violence by bringing together experts and practitioners to share ideas in order to improve violence reduction services, practices, and policies around the Gulf Coast. GFF will also emphasize collaboration, and cross-sector partnerships, with a goal of encouraging prevention, intervention and suppression of youth violence. The topic for session 2 is adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the correlation to youth violence.

Many of our members that attended participated in fun giveaways, listened and learned such valuable information from our speakers, and have now decided to take a step in the right path and set goals for their futures! Our Keynote Speaker for Day 1 was Mona Dixon and she impacted everyone at the event about her story from being homeless to becoming a very successful woman. She's met Barack Obama, Lebron James, Denzel Washington, and many others. Our Keynote Speaker for Day 2 was Dr. Tommie Mabry, who gave a powerful speech about his life and that he didn't let anyone get in his way or tell him that he couldn't do or be something. He inspired our members to have that same mindset and have confidence in themselves.