HISTORY
In 2012, we began a journey of hosting an annual event that would bring practitioners from various related professions together to share their expertise on how best to address youth, gang and community violence. We have had many speakers, many panel discussions and thousands of attendees over the years. As our conference continues to gain momentum, our reach and impact have grown as well.
Our objective is to convene experts who share a common goal of eliminating gang violence and other related forms of violence from their communities. Most major U.S. cities have a gang problem and L.A. is no exception. In fact, many scholars refer to L.A. as the modern day gang capital of the world. There are many reasons why that label exists, but it is in large part due to media coverage, pop culture and the migration of gangs from Los Angeles to other states across the Nation. However, the Los Angeles gang problem does not stop there.
Our domestic gang problem became an international issue in the 1990s when the United States began deported illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America back to their home countries for their involvement with L.A. street gangs. The U.S. essentially exported L.A. based street gangs throughout the Central American region which has lead to record number murder rates per capita every year.
With that said, we set out on a mission to let the world know that there is in fact, a serious gang problem, but there are also many efforts across the U.S., throughout Central America and in other parts of the world that are dramatically reducing youth, gang and community violence.
There are many gang and community violence conferences held annually around the world. Most are catered to the law enforcement community. Our conference is the largest practitioner based gang prevention & intervention conference in the world. Our goal is to have a diverse group of participants from various professions, all focusing on addressing violence.
We will continue to provide the very best speakers and most qualified experts in the field to present at our conference. These high impact subject matter experts come from various universities and organizations from around the world, with evidence-based, proven models that they are eager to share with our attendees.
Thank you for considering our event. You will not be disappointed if you decide to participate and attend. Our co-founder Dr. Tchaka Shepherd said it best, "our conference is only as powerful as our speakers and attendees are in what they do"! Hope to see you at our next event!
-Southern California Crossroads & St. Francis Medical Center Trauma Services