What's Happening

By Chloe Sorensen | September 3, 2019
Founder, Youth United for Responsible Media Representation

When I was a student at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, there was a youth suicide cluster in our community. By the time I graduated, I had lost five of my peers, including a close friend. Overwhelmed by grief and fear and unsure of how to move forward, I sought a way to channel my pain into action.

Halfway through my sophomore year, I found myself speaking at school board meetings and in other forums, advocating for the needs of students.

By Taryn Gal, MPH, CPH, CHES and Brittany Batell, MPH, MSW  | August 28, 2019
Executive Director (TG) and Program and Engagement Manager (BB), MOASH

There has been an amazing push for greater inclusivity in sex education in recent years. The field offers programs that are more inclusive for LGBTQ+ youth, for survivors of trauma, and for youth with learning differences or developmental disabilities. We make these efforts because we are committed to creating a learning environment where all identities and choices are honored.

That’s why it’s also important for us to be sure we are creating welcoming, inclusive and effective sexuality education for expectant and parenting youth (EPY).

By ETR | August 21, 2019
 

David Torres is one of ETR’s great data wranglers. This means he spends a lot of his time making sure the raw data collected on his projects is clean and consistent before running analyses on it. “That’s actually about 80% of my work on a project,” he explains. “The analysis is the fun part, but the cleaning is the most important. If you start with inaccurate data, you get inaccurate interpretations.”

By Leslie Ferreira, MPA | August 14, 2019
Training and Outreach Manager, ETR

You’ve heard the adage, “Youth are leaders of tomorrow.” But truthfully, young people are leaders today. Our youth are stepping into their power like never before and demanding the space to make their voices heard. As adults, it’s our responsibility—and our privilege—to seek, validate and lift their voices in tangible and genuine ways.

By Eleanor Hayden | August 8, 2019
Research Assistant, ETR

Have you ever wanted to increase stakeholder engagement in your research? Or introduce participatory data analysis to your work? If you have, a data party might be for you!

I recently attended a webinar on data parties presented by Kylie Hutchinson at Community Solutions Planning & Evaluation. I learned how to host a data party as well as the potential benefits they can provide to everyone involved, from researchers to evaluators to community stakeholders. Here are some key take-homes.

By ETR | August 1, 2019
 

Emma Schlamm’s got activism in her blood. Born and raised in New York City, she shares a birthday with both Malcom X and Ho Chi Minh. Following her urban upbringing, she chose a small town community for college—Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the heart of Amish country. “This was a fascinating experience for someone with a big-city background,” she recalls, “and it fueled my interest in learning about other cultures and communities.”

By Chris Wilson-Smith & Michael Everett, MHS | July 25, 2019
HIV/Sexual Health Trainer (CW-S) & Project Coordinator (ME), ETR

How do we celebrate the innovative spirit of youth? How do we encourage young people's creative leadership and put it to work to solve real-world problems? How do we leverage youth interests and abilities in technology to amplify their power?

ETR’s YTH Initiative is delivering a mentorship program that will do all of these things. Introducing Project LIYT (Leadership + Innovation + Youth + Technology)! 

By ETR | July 23, 2019
 

Bhupendra Sheoran jumped into the health-tech arena early. Not to build ways for health care systems keep to keep better track of medical records or billing. Not to build programs that persuade health care providers to use iPads during patient visits. Rather, to build ways to support transformation and empowerment in communities, both locally and globally. We are delighted that Sheoran was invited to speak at the recent TEDxSantaClaraUniversity event.

By Vignetta Charles, PhD & Bhupendra Sheoran, MD, MBA  | July 17, 2019
CEO (VC) and Vice President of Global Development (BS), ETR

We are beyond thrilled about the recent merger of ETR and YTH. Of course, a huge amount of practical footwork needed to be done. There are challenges, some anticipated and some not. There is discovery and confusion. Adjustments must be made.

But when we take a moment, take a breath, and think about where we are and how we see the road ahead, our overarching feeling is…excitement!

By Narinder Dhaliwal, MA | July 10, 2019
Director of ATOD, ETR

We are natural advocates, those of us in the public health world. We talk to our children about tobacco. We encourage our family members to use sunscreen. We work every day to promote the health of our communities. Educating our elected representatives is a logical next step, given the advocacy we practice every day of our lives.

ETR’s ATOD team (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs) recently participated in California’s Capitol Information & Education (I&E) Days. 

By ETR | June 26, 2019
 

Effective design communication is central to ETR’s mission. Our projects and products communicate health concepts so people can obtain the information, skills and opportunities they need to lead healthy lives. In fact, that’s language lifted directly out of our mission statement.

By Coleen Cantwell, MPH | June 21, 2019
Vice-President, Business Development, ETR

ETR has brought considerable attention to creating a workplace culture that builds and sustains growth mindset over time. Our 2019 all-staff retreat offers a fine example of this. Our distributed workforce of 100 gathered for a full day in Santa Clara, CA, travelling from four worksites with co-located staff, and 25 remote locations across the nation.

Our retreats are not ordinary. They do not pay mere lip service to building organizational engagement. They do not bore. Neither do they entertain for a day and then take a break until next year.

By ETR | June 18, 2019
 

It makes sense to engage young people in planning and implementing programs focused on youth. These steps can benefit organizations and communities as well as young people themselves. So…what do you do if you’re a believer, you want to see more youth engagement in your organization, but you’re under-resourced? Or your leadership isn’t on the same page? Or you’re just not sure how to proceed?

There are some fine resources that can offer guidance, but we’d like to suggest you start by watching this video from ETR Project Coordinator Alda Santana. 

By David Manuel Torres | June 13, 2019
Research Assistant, ETR

Every year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) hosts a unique virtual event—a week-long STEM for All Video Showcase. In the videos, Principal Investigators, practitioners and researchers describe federally funded projects that seek to improve and innovate within STEM education. The brief videos are posted and viewed globally. This year, I joined up with ETR Senior Research Scientist Jill Denner and Senior Editor Marcia Quackenbush to create an ETR video for the NSF showcase. 

By Lance Sprague | June 11, 2019
Former Associate Publisher, ETR

It didn’t take long for Bill to figure out I was a baseball fan. One day he walked up to me and said, “Did I ever tell you about the time I hit a double off Satchel Paige?”

“What?!” I said.

Now, Satchel Paige was one of the greatest pitchers of all time—certainly the most legendary. 

By Laiah Idelson, MSPH | June 4, 2019
Strategic Partnerships & Innovation Lead, YTH Initiative, ETR

What happens when a motivated, creative group of high school juniors and seniors is asked, “How might we use technology to create an innovative solution to improve the mental health of young people?”

To answer this question, our team conducted nine workshops from January through April this year. Seventy-seven juniors and seniors at De Anza High School in Richmond, CA, joined in. 

By ETR | May 31, 2019
 

We are all members of a global society. We are excited that ETR’s recent merger with YTH brings a deeper and more experienced global perspective to our organization’s work. YTH has a long history of international work with youth communities. The YTH Initiative presence at the upcoming Women Deliver conference demonstrates this beautifully.

By Ahna Suleiman, DrPH | May 29, 2019
AYSRH, Developmental Science & Youth Engagement Consultant

Consent is complicated. And learning about consent is even more so. Thinking back over conversations and experiences I’ve had the last six months, I am struck by how truly complicated it is.