Eradicate Hate Global Summit returns to Pittsburgh for 3rd year

The Eradicate Hate Global Summit is returning to Downtown Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center this week for its third year.

This year’s three-day summit, running from Wednesday through Friday, will include sessions on the challenges of regulating online hate, hate-fueled violence against the LGBTQ+ community and how video games can act as a vector for positive change.

The summit also will be hosting a panel where victims who were involved in the recent Tree of Life trial can share their stories.

“Nothing has made me feel much better than being able to see victims from different areas getting to meet each other at the summit,” said Mark Nordenberg, co-chair of the summit’s board of directors.

People attending in person and virtually will hear from a wide range of speakers and panelists, including keynote speakers Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Alice Wairimu Nderitu, a United Nations special adviser on preventing genocide; and Jeff Pegues, a chief national affairs and justice correspondent for CBS News.

The event also will feature a high school summit on Thursday in which delegates from 14 local schools will discuss ways to develop anti-hate programming.

The summit was created in response to the 2018 attack on Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in which a gunman killed 11 worshippers from three congregations. The second summit, held last year, drew more than 260 speakers and more than 1,600 people attended either in person or virtually.

This year’s event is expected to be even bigger, with 350 speakers and 1,000 people registered to attend in person. Organizers didn’t have an estimate on how many people are expected to attend virtually.

“It looks as though this will be our best summit ever,” Nordenberg said.

Summit organizers created working groups for a range of sectors and topical areas, each with some of the top experts in their respective fields. They work year-round to turn ideas exchanged at the summit into practical solutions and useful tools to combat hate-motivated violence around the world, according to organizers.

For example, the United Nations has partnered with the summit to form a Sports Working Group that has enlisted major sports leagues and associations in the United States and United Kingdom to develop and deliver a unified message to counter hate speech.

“The summit is built around the idea of bringing committed, talented people together and giving them a framework to help solve the problems of hate and violence, and how to incorporate those solutions in their own communities,” Nordenberg said.

In-person and virtual event registration is available for the public. In-person passes are available for one, two and all three days, with prices ranging from $70 to $150. Virtual attendance is available for free for plenary sessions only.

For more information about the summit, go to eradicatehatesummit.org.