HCTC 2021 Report

• Leading a conversation across racial and socioeconomic
divides, in partnership with the Jewish Teen Learning
Connection of West Hartford, deepening civic
engagement.
• Attending the National Action Network’s “2020
Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks,”
in Washington, D.C., celebrating the 57th Anniversary
commemoration of the “I Have a Dream” speech of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The 12 youth who attended
heard from civil rights leaders as well as family
members of recent victims of police violence, in an
inter-generationally-inclusive day of advocacy for
comprehensive police accountability reform; the Census;
and mobilization of voters for the November 2020
election.
• Joining Blue Hills Civic Association for a focus Group
led by Dr. Reginald Eadie, President and CEO of Trinity
Health of New England, on what the medical community
can do to earn and deserve increased trust from the black
community around public health interventions, including
the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Currently collaborating with Hartford Parent University
and the Child Safety Forward’s parent and community
engagement workgroup to host a Safe Sleep Awareness
Virtual Conference in January 2021.
National Networking
This year, HCRT Program Director Larry Johnson
joined the ranks of HCTC staffers serving on the
national workgroups of the key CT HVIP policy
partner, the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention
(the HAVI). This special working group will consist of
a small team of front line workers who will conduct
comparative analyses of how programs are paying
workers, create a national pay-matrix for front line
work, create and maintain a resource binder for front
line workers, and plan and facilitate a quarterly Brave
Space. The first meeting will be in January 2021 and
the working group will meet monthly thereafter.
Having served since 2018 on the HAVI’s Policy and
Research & Evaluation working groups, Andrew
Woods has been invited to be a member of the
HAVI’s Racial Equity Task Force, an opportunity to
work with colleagues nationwide to develop a shared
framework and understanding for promoting racial
equity — as a key component in all aspects of our
work. As a Task Force member, Mr. Woods will join
other HAVI Member Programs, Staff, and Advisory
Board Members in advancing racial equity policies
and practices within the organization. The first
meeting will be in February 2021.
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