Nottingham School of Boxing founder Marcellus Baz is travelling to Los Angeles after being invited to address a conference on gang violence.
Marcellus, known as Baz, was asked to attend the event by the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti.
He will speak at two events and attend meetings next week with governing delegates and policy makers.
“It is an absolute honour to be representing Nottingham and the UK at an international stage,” said Baz.
“I am humbled to be able to go there and speak about the work we do here at SwitchUp Nottingham School of Boxing. It is going to be a great learning curve for me.”
Nottingham School of Boxing, in Woodborough Road, was set up by Baz to help young people in Nottingham stay away from crime. He also set up SwitchUp, a community interest company which runs mentoring programmes.
It is not the first time Baz has been invited out to speak on an international stage.
The former gang member turned inspiring coach and youth leader has previously travelled to Brazil, Norway and Denmark to talk about boxing and gang crime.
He said: “I was speaking to someone the other day and they were saying SwitchUp has that international stamp now.
“It feels amazing to be a part of an organisation that has that seal of approval as an internationally-recognised organisation.
“I am going to be learning a lot of things from other people and I want to be looking at specific strategies around mediation, violence prevention and trauma management that I can bring back here to impact the work we already do.”
Baz was awarded the BBC Unsung Hero Sports Personality of the Year award in 2016 and has had notable visitors to the Nottingham School of Boxing including boxing legends like Frank Bruno and Johnny Nelson.
“In the US, they have a lot of impressive boxing schools and impressive youth organisations,” added Baz.
“But it is how we are able to bring that together and make a unique organisation that is really helping people through the disciplines of sport but providing different interventions and support mechanisms around the sport.”
Regional Manager at the City of Los Angeles government, Nason Buchanan met Baz in Brazil and was so impressed that he invited him to LA to share his story.
He said: “After witnessing Marcellus’ success in Brazil, I felt that it was imperative we have him share some of his practicies with agencies and communities in Los Angeles that face similar struggles as the UK.
“We look forward to having Marcellus as a guest speaker at both conferences which will focus on gang prevention and intervention strategies along with building healthy communities and supporting communities that experience constant trauma.”
He also admitted that more than the conferences excite him about visiting Los Angeles for the first time.
“I am going to see the Hollywood sign, it is one of those things I used to see in my dreams and I am blessed to see the work that I am doing is bringing me to places like LA to see some amazing sights I have only seen on TV.
“I am really excited, I feel like a kid in a candy shop.”
