Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley has tapped six Boston leaders to act as honorary team captains for this year’s Basketball for Peace tournament next week, calling them “true role models” for the city’s young people.

Now in their fourth year, the Feb. 23 games – to be held at the Kroc Center in Dorchester – bring city teens together with prosecutors, victim advocates, civilian investigators, and others from Conley’s office. Also on hand are local police, non-profit groups, and social service providers. Leading the teams are:

1. Erin Collins, MSW, LICSW, the David S. Weiner Award winner who launched a successful violence-prevention program through Children’s Hospital at the John Marshall Elementary School in Boston;

2. Adam Gray, 2012 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, who founded the first Mu Alpha Theta honor society in the Boston Public Schools while teaching mathematics at Monument High School in South Boston;

3. Deputy Superintendent William Gross of the Boston Police Department, selected by the
International Association of Chiefs of Police for its inaugural Law Enforcement Business Fellowship and leader of the Shop With a Cop program that brings kids together with police officers;

4. Dr. Thea James, MD, director of the Boston Medical Center’s Violence Intervention Advocacy Program, assistant professor of emergency medicine, and member of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence;

5. Assistant District Attorney Migdalia Nalls, a Suffolk County prosecutor who was the first in her family to pursue higher education and is now an advisor for the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Program and a coach for the Massachusetts Bar Association High School Mock Trial Program; and

6. Clayton Turnbull, president and CEO of the Waldwin Group, an entrepreneur and advocate for minority-owned businesses who was named a Shattuck City Champion by the Boston Municipal Research Bureau for his outstanding contributions to the Boston community.

As honorary captains, the local luminaries will support teams of young players from the Bromley Heath Tenant Management Corporation; the Condon Community Center in South Boston; the Dorchester Youth Collaborative; the Revere Police Athletic League; the Bridging the Gap program in Dudley Square; and the Teen Center at St. Peter’s in Dorchester. Conley will also present each captain with an award recognizing him or her as a role model who has found success through public service.

Basketball for Peace attracts children, families, and kids and teens from across the area for a day of healthy fun with prosecutors, victim advocates, civilian investigators, and others from the DA’s office. Also on hand are local police, non-profit groups, and social service providers, all for a day of safe, healthy fun. Media are welcome to attend.