A professional development symposium on racial justice, mental health awareness and suicide prevention is set to take place at the Eastwood Event Center (5577, Niles Warren Rd., Niles) on February 4.

The daylong event is presented by Coleman Health Services in partnership with the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board (TCMHRB).

The keynote speaker for this event will be Kevin Richardson, who at the age of 14 was wrongfully convicted of a brutal crime in Central Park in New York along with a group of four other people, collectively known as the "Central Park Five" Richardson served seven years in prison.

His story was told in the Netflix miniseries titled, "When They See Us." Richardson tells 21 News the night he was convicted was "the beginning of the end" for him.

"That night when I entered the park, I never thought in my wildest dreams that that would be my last day of freedom. Because it went from just being with friends and seeing people outside to being put in the police precinct, which I never was a part of or experienced, so that was a treacherous situation for myself," Richardson said.

Coleman Health Services' Regional Development Director for the Mahoning Valley, Stacia Erdos says they were able to get Richardson thanks to the generosity of sponsors for the event.

TCMHRB's Director of Clinical Services, Katie Cretella, says the main goal of this event is to educate the community while raising awareness and bridging the gap between the medical, mental health and legal systems of care.

"We are excited to be able to provide this educational event for many different professional fields while also being proactive on these critical issues. We are all here to serve our communities and being able to come together for this all-day event will be impactful," Cretella said.

In addition to Richardson, the event will feature more guests including Laurese Glover, who with the help of the Ohio Innocence Project had his case overturned in 2016 after being charged for a 1995 murder in Cleveland.

Judge Carla Baldwin of Youngstown Municipal Court, James DeLucia of the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center, State Representative, Thomas West, Attorney Pierce Reed of the Ohio Innocence Project, Dr. Doug Smith of the Summit County ADM Board and Carmella Hill, Clinical Director of Coleman Health Services in Trumbull County.

In addition Malik Mostella, Community Liaison for the Youngstown Police Department will serve as emcee for the event, and Carol Bennett, Assistant Provost of Diversity at Youngstown State University will moderate interviews and panel discussions.

A limited number of free tickets will be available for college students and first responders. Continuing education credits will be available for counselors, social workers, attorneys, nurses, school counselors and EMTs.

TCMHRB Executive Director, April Caraway says the board wants to ensure health equity and cultural competence within all behavioral health programs in the community.

"We want to make certain that services meet the needs of hundreds of diverse populations. We see this conversation as the next step to achieving this goal," Caraway said.

Richardson tells 21 News that while there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in fixing the criminal justice system, he's happy to see the current generation advocating for such reform.

"People now, because of social media are standing up for things. Now we're recording things, we're seeing the younger generation standing up for their rights. And not just of color, people of all colors want to see a change. I see that as promising," Richardson said.

21 News's Corey McCrae had an in-depth conversation with Richardson about his experience and where he is now. You can listen to the full interview on our 21 News Podcast here.