2025 Symposium Highlights
Tuesday, October 7th was a full day event that began with a morning Poster Session highlighting the work of the 2025 Community Health Internship Program student interns and their community partners. Followed by the Bridging the Gaps Awardee and Keynote Speaker, Attorney Fred Gray (94-year-old, civil rights activist, state legislator, and attorney).
The BTG Alumni Co-chairs and Community Partners facilitated the afternoon sessions, which included eight alumni and community partners presenting 3-minute lightening rounds of Projects in Progress. Following lunch attendees problem-solved with presenters during two 20-minute table discussion rounds. The day concluded with a session on “How You Know You’re Making a Difference,” a storytelling presentation by two BTG alumni and a community partner.
Attendees included alumni, community members, grantmakers, public health officials, and other BTG stakeholders.
The annual symposium is an opportunity to leverage BTG’s multi-sector approach to foster action, advocacy, networking, and partnerships through diverse expertise.
Continuing Education Credits were available.
Tuesday, October 7th was a full day event that began with a morning Poster Session highlighting the work of the 2025 Community Health Internship Program student interns and their community partners. Followed by the Bridging the Gaps Awardee and Keynote Speaker, Attorney Fred Gray (94-year-old, civil rights activist, state legislator, and attorney).
The BTG Alumni Co-chairs and Community Partners facilitated the afternoon sessions, which included eight alumni and community partners presenting 3-minute lightening rounds of Projects in Progress. Following lunch attendees problem-solved with presenters during two 20-minute table discussion rounds. The day concluded with a session on “How You Know You’re Making a Difference,” a storytelling presentation by two BTG alumni and a community partner.
Attendees included alumni, community members, grantmakers, public health officials, and other BTG stakeholders.
The annual symposium is an opportunity to leverage BTG’s multi-sector approach to foster action, advocacy, networking, and partnerships through diverse expertise.
Continuing Education Credits were available.
BTG 35th Annual Symposium KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Fred D. Gray is the Senior Partner of the law firm of Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray, Gray & Nathanson, P.C., with offices in both Montgomery and Tuskegee. He is a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement, a native of Montgomery, Alabama and resides in Tuskegee with his lovely wife Carol. At the age of 94 he continues to practice law, specializing in civil rights litigation.
He has been a cooperating attorney with the NAACP and Legal Defense Fund Inc. since 1956. He represented many civil rights icons and organizations including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ms. Rosa Parks, Ms. Claudette Colvin, Congressman John Lewis, the Freedom Riders, Selma to Montgomery Marchers, NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and others.
The Fred Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights has been created to build on the foundational principles of Gray’s legal work and activism in medical racism, voting rights, gerrymandering, and equal access to high quality education.
The whole 35th Annual Symposium IS a highlight of the work being done in Philadelphia by BTG, its founders, directors, administrators, students and community partner collaborators. This is a program that promotes community connection with student health practitioners and illuminates opportunities for continued growth and improvement. This year was (is) AMAZING. Attorney Fred Gray is an inspiring and engaging speaker. It was a privilege, an education, and very humbling to hear his story directly from him. His personal mission, to dismantle and destroy segregation wherever he found it, was not a story I was aware of. Attorney Gray’s humility and humanity in the face of the challenges he encountered and continues to encounter, is awe inspiring. I appreciated his pragmatism as he received our applause and gratitude for his accomplishments, to keep the focus on the work still ahead of us. He continues to set an example at the age of 94 for all of us that there is no room for complacency. This was truly a highlight for me.
-BTG Symposium Guest
It was great to have listened to a powerful message from our speaker who has years and years of experience advocating and fighting for underserved communities and is currently living in his 90s. Very motivational.
-BTG Student Intern 2025
I really enjoyed getting to see all of the community partners and hearing their connections and curiosities with our sites.
-BTG Student Intern 2025
I really enjoyed hearing Fred Gray speak – his work was so profound and it was amazing to hear about!
-BTG Student Intern 2025
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