Post submitted by Daniel Ball, HRC Mississippi Faith Organizer

HRC hosted the Mississippi Youth Leadership Summit on Saturday, Feb. 24, in partnership with ACLU of Mississippi and Teen Health Mississippi. This summit allowed a creative and exciting way to engage youth activists from across Mississippi to explore ways they can advocate for policies that improve the health and rights of young people in Mississippi.

The summit began with 34 youth between the ages of 15 and 22 that traveled from across the state to participate in the Inaugural Mississippi Youth Leadership Summit. The summit presented multiple breakout sessions that allowed participants to build their knowledge, skills and abilities to advocate for issues that impact their lives including:

• Fully comprehensive sex education;
• Anti-bullying policies;
• LGBTQ non-discrimination policies and
• Criminal justice reform.

The participants also participated in “Know Your Rights” & lobby trainings that focused on utilizing their power and voice in raising awareness, empowering, and educating their peers on ways to create real life changes in our state.

HRC Mississippi is committed to working with communities to help improve the lives of our LGBTQ youth. It is our hope that some of this year’s attendees will join us at HRC Foundation’s annual Time To THRIVE Conference next year.

For more information on events in your area, please reach out to Daniel Ball, HRC Mississippi Faith Organizer, at Daniel.Ball@hrc.org, or visit hrc.org/mississippi.