Top Leaders Convene at our Childhood Trauma Summit
“Child trauma is the number one public health problem facing our country today.”
That’s how Dr. Robert Ross, a pediatrician, and president of The California Endowment, started our day-long Summit in Los Angeles called SOMEBODY STOOD UP FOR ME: Changing the Future for Children Experiencing Bullying, Trauma, and Violence. Produced by our talented team here at FUTURES, the program gathered many of the country’s most creative thinkers and doers who are addressing the impact of childhood trauma and toxic stress on our next generation.
With two out of three children in the U.S. exposed to, or experiencing violence, childhood trauma remains a hidden epidemic—which is exactly why we invited 100 national leaders to spend a day sharing successful strategies and solutions that can meet the resulting mental and physical challenges faced by millions of kids today. We asked them to step out of their individual fields—including justice, health, education, and community action—and consider innovative ways to collaborate.
Among our inspiring and informative speakers of the day were keynote speaker Associate Attorney General Tony West, Los Angeles Superintendent of Schools John Deasy, New York Times columnist David Bornstein, Pittsburgh Steelers’ cornerback William Gay, Senior Vice President of Sesame Workshop Jeanette Betancourt, Founder and President of Playworks Jill Vialet, and Principal Deputy Administrator of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services at the U.S. Health Department Kana Enomoto.
We’ll have much more to say—and do—about childhood trauma in the months to come. Our thanks to The California Endowment and Blue Shield of California Foundation for their ongoing support of this critical issue.
