Athens nonprofit Chess and Community is holding its 13th annual Chess and Community Conference this Saturday, March 28 at the Classic Center. The event will feature robotics and AI, youth scholarships, a chess and art museum, and the highly anticipated Across the Board chess tournament between students and area law enforcement officers.
Lemuel “Life” LaRoche is the executive director of the organization. He says the free, family-friendly conference is for all ages. This year’s theme is Connecting Futures, Youth Power in a Digital Age.
He explains the organization’s mission.
“Chess and Community is a youth nonprofit organization,” LaRoche said. “We focus on four important principles, critical thinking through chess, conflict resolution through debates and public speaking, problem solving through AI and robotics, and civic leadership.”
Speakers for this year’s event include Athens native Tharon Johnson, who is a strategist and panelist on the Georgia Gang television show. Spelman students Temple Dees and Jessica Obi will discuss PlantGPT and will focus on how technology interacts with the natural world.
Doors open at 9 a.m. and the conference begins at 10.
