Youth and adults to address Building Healthy Communities

More than 1,500 national and international participants –one-third of them young people –will gather at the San Jose Marriott and Convention Center for Search Institute's seventh annual Healthy Communities' Healthy Youth Conference Oct. 23-25. The local host for the conference is Project Cornerstone.

This year's theme, Unleashing the Power of Diversity , challenges conference participants to think about diversity, inclusiveness and unity as they develop action plans for their communities. From the opening assembly session, The Power of Diversity: Making the World a Better Place , to the closing assembly, We Are the Change We Wish to See , the conference program focuses on the implications for diversity globally, in our workplaces, neighborhoods, communities, and our personal lives.

A popular component of the conferences is the youth center, part of which is the Techno Village featuring technology and tools youth need to create brochures for their community initiatives, write letters to the editor and create videotaped public service announcements about positive youth development issues.

Project Cornerstone is a growing collaborative in Santa Clara Valley, Calif., dedicated to engaging the entire community in the critical task of connecting youth and adults. Cornerstone's 100-plus partners from diverse sectors of the community, including schools, nonprofits, city and county government, corporations, and community groups, promote asset-building policies, programs, and personal behavior to support all children and youth to thrive. For more information, contact www.projectcornerstone.org .