About this Artist

At Health Resources in Action, Laurie Jo Wallace has spent the last 28 years promoting healthy communities and healthy youth in Boston. In her role as the Managing Director of Training and Capacity Building, she has special expertise in the areas of training and facilitation, and she has provided consulting and support to numerous programs and coalitions, in public health and other non-profit agencies in the Boston region, Massachusetts, and nationally. She is the Director of the BEST (Building Exemplary Systems of Training for youth workers) Initiative in Boston, a professional development program of support and training for youth workers focusing on the youth -development approach. As the Director of BEST, she supervises the coordination of the Training Institute, which includes the Youth -Worker Certification project, the Supervisor training, and advanced training in positive youth outcomes and youth participation. In addition, she is the co-creator of the Youth Development and Artists curriculum, along with other topic-specific youth development curriculum. She has also contributed to and written numerous coalition -building and youth -development training curricula and facilitated strategic planning and organizational development initiatives for a variety of non-profit agencies, local and state-wide collaborations, and community groups. She particularly has particular expertise in peer leadership program development, youth/adult collaboration, conflict resolution, and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse and prevention.