Our vision is a community free from discrimination. We work toward that ambitious vision by cultivating inclusive leaders to change their communities through dialogue and cross-cultural interactions. That means we give people the tools to have hard conversations with others who don’t look like them or come from different backgrounds. And we empower individuals to build relationships based on understanding and mutual respect. For us, “culture” means the intersecting aspects that make up a person’s social identity: race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sex, sexual orientation, faith, ability, class and age. We work with youth, young adults & adults, reaching over 1,000 individuals annually with our unique approach to leadership development. Our approach uses proven strategies in prejudice-reduction, including “inter-group contact” (what we call cross-cultural interactions), relationship-building with an emphasis on dialogue and opportunities to work together toward common goals. Whether working with youth or adults, our training strategies are all high engagement: we don’t talk at you; we involve you in the process of learning and change. 85% of our program participants are able to recognize the harmful impact of prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination; 80% experience prejudice-reducing cross-cultural interactions in their work with us; 93% learn strategies for and gain skills in dialogue facilitation. That means they learn how to have change-creating conversations grounded in respect and empathy. Launched in 1991, our signature program ANYTOWN™ continues to be the premier youth leadership and diversity education program in Tampa Bay. This program is complemented by our other youth programs, including Facilitating the Leadership of Youth (FLY) and Youth Conferences. We also offer training and education for adult learners. Formerly a regional office of the National Conference for Community and Justice, the agency became independent in 2005.