The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention Celebrates Resilience at 11th Annual Virtual Conference  

This year’s virtual event will take place September 29 - October 1

SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 — The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI), a global organization that connects violence intervention programs and promotes equity for victims of violence, will hold the 2020 HAVI National Conference on September 29 - October 1, 2020. The 11th annual event will be virtual this year and is sponsored by the and CareStar Foundation,California Wellness Foundation, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Kaiser Permanente, among many others.

This year’s theme, Rising To Face The Moment, convenes 600+ stakeholders from government, healthcare, philanthropy, and frontline violence prevention professionals to share best practices, lessons from the field, and research on violence intervention, healing equity, and community partnerships to bring this powerful work to scale. 

“While faced with unprecedented challenges of the global pandemic and demonstrations in response to racial and structural inequity, we witnessed the innovation and ingenuity of our members to adapt their practices and strategies to ensure the continued delivery of violence intervention and prevention services,” said Fatimah Loren Dreier, Executive Director of the HAVI. “This year’s conference will celebrate our network’s strength, resilience, and ability to rise together in the face of adversity for service, health, and transformation.” 

The largest national conference of its kind, the event will offer thought-provoking panels and workshops on public health approaches to violence, racial equity, funding for hospital-based violence intervention programs, trauma recovery, public policy to address community violence, and more. There will also be peer learning opportunities, one-on-one networking sessions, virtual social gatherings, a livestreamed DJ set, and social media giveaways. 

Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD, a nationally recognized public health leader, will serve as keynote speaker at this year’s conference. As a physician working in inner-city Boston, she broke new ground with her efforts to have youth violence defined as a public health problem, not just a criminal justice issue. Her passion for prevention was not satisfied with the emergency room work of “stitching people up and sending them out.” She turned to public health and, along with others, created a social movement to prevent violence that has had an impact on Boston and the nation. Dr. Prothrow-Stith was recently appointed as Dean and Professor Medicine for the College of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. 

Last year’s conference celebrated 10 years of national convenings. More than 500 attendees from across the country and the UK joined the momentous event which honored more than a decade of advances in the field of violence intervention and prevention. Past speakers include Ben Jealous, Dr. David Satcher, Dr. Leana Wen and, most recently, Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin's father.  For more information on the 2020 HAVI Conference, visit www.thehavi.org

The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI) is a non-profit organization that brings communities together to break the cycle of violence through intervention and prevention programs and promotes equity for victims of violence globally. Previously the National Network of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs (NNHVIP), the global network of clinicians, frontline workers, and partners advocate for equitable, trauma-informed care for communities of color. Founded in 2009, the HAVI grew out of a two-day symposium hosted by Youth ALIVE!, a non-profit public health agency based in Oakland, California.  The network now connects 40 member and 30 emerging programs.