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Virtual FAN Event with Shannon Watts and Brenda Mitchell on February 9

February 2, 2023  1:30pm CT

 

FAN Event with Shannon Watts, Brenda Mitchell, and Heidi Stevens is on February 9.
Shannon Watts, Brenda Mitchell, and Heidi Stevens
(image from www.familyactionnetwork.net) 

 

"Gun Safety in Our Communities," a conversation between Shannon Watts, Brenda Mitchell, and Heidi Stevens, will be held on Thursday, February 9, beginning at 7:00pm via Zoom. The event is free, suitable for ages 12 and up. Registration is required.

 

Reeling from the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 and determined to stem the tide of school shootings, Shannon Watts launched the grass-roots advocacy group Moms Demand Action as a Facebook group the next day from her kitchen table. Over the next decade, Watts traveled the country advocating for stronger gun laws and other public safety measures that protect people from gun violence. Moms Demand Action has chapters in every state and Washington, D.C., and is now part of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country, with nearly 10 million supporters. A mother of five, Watts has held a front-row seat to the human stories and harrowing statistics that shape America’s complex relationship with guns.

 

Brenda Mitchell is a Chicago-based ordained minister and grief counselor who lost her 31-year-old son, Kenneth, when he was shot and killed outside a bar — one week after his younger brother left for his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. Since Kenneth’s death in 2005, Mitchell has worked as a gun violence prevention advocate, serving as a Moms Demand Action in Illinois chapter lead, a Fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network, and a volunteer with the Chicago Mayor's Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

 

Watts and Mitchell will be in conversation with Chicago-based writer Heidi Stevens, Director of External Affairs for the University of Chicago’s TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health.

 

The February 9 virtual event will be recorded and available later on FAN’s website and YouTube channel. For more information, including a list of sponsors for the webinar, visit the Family Action Network website.