WASHINGTON (CBS19 NEWS) -- A local gun violence prevention activist got to meet President Joe Biden last week during the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund’s Gun Sense University.

Herb Dickerson, the executive director of Brothers United to Cease the Killing, attended the conference in Washington, D.C.

It’s an annual event that brings together gun violence survivors, volunteers and advocates for training.

Biden addresses the conference nearly two years after signing the first federal gun safety bill that had made it through Congress in decades.

This legislation enhanced background checks and added funding to mental health programs in the wake of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

That shooting claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers.

Brothers United to Cease the Killing works to prevent gun violence through conflict resolution and de-escalation efforts.

Its members aim to restore a sense of community and personal development by using their own experiences to connect with people at the highest risk of becoming involved in gun violence.