Release Date: February 3,2025
"Raising the Bar" to Hold Third Conference Opportunity
Akron, Ohio, January 31, 2025 – Raising the Bar will hold its third annual conference on Saturday, March 29, 2025 at the Akron Municipal Courthouse from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The conference is co-hosted by Akron Municipal Court Administrative/Presiding Judge David Hamilton and Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro.
Executive Shapiro and Judge Hamilton co-created Raising the Bar for minority high school students in the Akron area to introduce them to career opportunities in the legal field.
The program is supported by a partnership with Summit County’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. My Brother’s Keeper, an initiative created by the 44th United States President Barack Obama, is a program that works to close the opportunity gap for boys and young men of color. MBK Summit County received certification in 2023 through the MBK Alliance out of the Obama Foundation.
The conference will consist of breakout sessions with local legal professionals and give students the opportunity to connect with peers while learning about civil, criminal, and constitutional law. Programming in the conference hopes to help young people identify and evaluate their skills, hone in on critical thinking and deductive reason, connect them with resources and help them gain the knowledge to pursue a career in the legal profession.
Speakers include:
- Administrative/Presiding Judge David Hamilton, Akron Municipal Court
- Brian Harnak, Summit County Law Director
- Vonsheay Brown, Assistant Law Director for The City of Akron
- Edward Littlejohn, Owner and Founder of Littlejohn Law, LLC
- Imokhai Okolo, Managing Attorney at Okolo Law Firm
- Tavia Galonski, Summit County Clerk of Courts
- Montrella Jackson, Director of Human Resources for The City of Akron
- Kyle Stone, Stark County Prosecuting Attorney
- Nolan James, Attorney at Cavitch, Familo & Durkin, Co., LPA
- Troy Looney, Detective for the Akron Police Department
The conference is free to those who have signed up, and breakfast and lunch will be provided.
This event can accommodate 100 students. Registration and more information can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-raising-the-bar-conference-tickets-1222713160979
Raising the Bar launched in 2022. Selected juniors and seniors at Akron Public Schools’ Buchtel CLC were a part of the pilot program.
The first Raising the Bar Conference was held in June 2023 and the second was held in October 2024.
Judge David Hamilton created the court-sponsored Compassion, Opportunity, Mentoring, Purpose, Achievement, Success, Stepping forward (COMPASS) Program in November 2020 for males who are high risk to reoffend. COMPASS provides an alternative to jail and offers resources including trauma therapy, counseling, formal mentorship, financial literacy and vocational services.
The Akron Municipal Courthouse is located at 172 South Broadway Street in Downtown Akron.