María Verónica Svetaz, MD, MPH, FSAHM

1. State and explain the priority goals that you would set for your term as a President of SAHM. Include a statement of how you foresee your role as the primary public face of SAHM.

   
   Priority Goal 1—In light of the rapidly changing global landscape, my mission as President Elect is to develop a Global Community-Based Participatory Action (CBPA) Plan designed to safeguard local and regional youth, alongside their providers and clinicians. This plan is not merely a proposal; it represents a vital step toward our common goal of enhancing youth and workforce well-being through community engagement. I intend to accomplish this by strengthening the existing structures of SAHM from the ground up and aligning various associations to support these efforts throughout my term as President Elect. Concurrently, I propose elevating the Advocacy and Diversity Committee Chair to the Board of Directors (BOD) to ensure their voice is prominent in our meetings. Integral to this plan is utilizing our List-serve to distribute polls that gauge how SAHM can best support our workforce’s well-being, including options like webinars, chats, and asynchronous training as appropriate.

   Rationale: We are witnessing a global shift towards nationalism and xenophobia, further marginalizing individuals with historically underrepresented identities. The new world order increasingly revolves around identity—privilege and power—rather than capitalism or socialism. As developmentalists, we find ourselves in a challenging position, with our science-based care politicized worldwide, resulting in numerous regional challenges that threaten the well-being of both youth and their caregivers. These challenges differ by region, country, and state within the U.S.

   Clear evidence suggests that to reduce inequities, we must align our actions with community needs—focusing on our teens, their communities, and their caregivers (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, “Ending Unequal Treatment,” 2024). Advocacy and involvement enhance well-being by making individuals part of the solution and fostering a community for recharge; these actions are among the most effective anti-oppressive measures. Many of these initiatives are included in the SAHM Aspirational Plan, which I will emphasize as essential. My role is to ensure that the decision-making processes within SAHM is grounded in local and regional needs assessments.

   Priority Goal 2—As President, I will work to bring a more ecological and participatory perspective to our governance and training

   1. Ensure the genuine inclusion of youth voices and leaders from diverse identities within our SAHM operational and governing structures.
   2. Continue researching and training our members on creating inclusive spaces that empower all youth (including male, white, and historically marginalized groups) to expand their critical consciousness to enable all youth to celebrate the unique contributions of all, and that protects their sense of worth or identity development.
   3. Enhance our ability to foster one of the most protective relationships in our youth’s lives: coaching parents of teens.
   4. Consider hosting a Pre-Conference dedicated to two tracks: Critical Consciousness (both for white males and for youth with historically marginalized identities) and Parenting Coaching.

   
   Rationale: Honoring youth voices is a crucial anti-oppressive strategy in community work. We require tangible approaches to incorporate these voices into our Society and Governance. Adolescent development can be exponentially supported by creating nurturing contexts that act as protective environments. Both historical and contemporary research highlight the importance of context in identity development, illustrating how societal forces that have historically marginalized certain groups can influence identity formation. Additionally, we must investigate how to counteract hostile influences on young males’ identities and prevent their radicalization through nationalistic propaganda.

   Current Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently issued an advisory emphasizing the profound impact parents have on the health of our children and society: “Today’s parents face immense pressures, including concerns for their children’s health and safety, financial stress, and navigating the complexities of technology and social media, amidst a youth mental health crisis and an epidemic of loneliness that disproportionately affects young people.” While some of us have long recognized the importance of parental well-being and style, I commit to prioritizing training and resources that empower all to act as Parent Coaches and supporters, regardless of their background. It truly takes a village; therefore, let us focus on the most critical sphere of influence to protect our youth, and the one we can influence.

   Priority Goal 3: Support Global Efforts to Unite, Highlight, and Organize Youth Integrative-Strength based approaches to Health Worldwide. This goal seeks to enhance and align global initiatives aimed at advancing Youth Integrative Health, with two specific sub-goals:

   • Create Three Regional Think Tanks for the Development of Training Programs for the “Southern Hemisphere”

   The objective is to establish three Think Tanks focused on the creation, funding, and implementation of training programs (synchronous or/and asynchronous) like EuTEACH (synchronous training) tailored to three key regions: Latin America, Africa, and Asia. These Think Tanks will serve as collaborative platforms where regional leaders and experts can develop culturally relevant and effective training materials.

   I will continue the work initiated in Latin America, where I’ve already established relationships with regional leaders, including Past President Manuel Oscos-Sanchez. This will serve as a pilot model to demonstrate how to create regionally-led, asynchronous training materials, grounded in local contexts and informed by the expertise of regional leaders.

   • Strengthen National and Global Intersectoral Coalitions

   I will continue supporting national and global intersectoral coalitions that recognize health as deeply connected to the unique opportunities presented by different contexts, following an ecological model of health. This approach emphasizes the importance of collaborative efforts across sectors to improve youth health outcomes.

   Rationale By 2025, it is projected that 90% of the global youth population will reside in developing countries, with approximately 60% in Asia, and the remainder in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. A significant portion of these youth, particularly in Africa and Asia, live in rural areas, highlighting the urgent need for targeted initiatives that address their unique challenges and opportunities.

   My primary goal is to launch three Think Tanks focused on developing asynchronous, competency-based training programs tailored to the needs of youth in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. These programs will be accessible through our website, offering localized content in each region’s languages. I will leverage Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles to identify and engage regional leaders who will help create contextually relevant training materials driven by local knowledge and expertise.

   I am already serving as the SAHM liaison to CODAJIC, and during my tenure on the Board of Directors, we successfully integrated SAHM into the existing Intersectoral Pact for the Comprehensive Promotion of Adolescence and Youth, under the leadership of Past President Manuel Oscos-Sanchez.

   As part of this effort, I will work to integrate WONCA (World Organization of Family Doctors) into our network. As a co-founder, alongside Dr. Tellier (Canada), of the WONCA Special Interest Group for Adolescent and Young Adult Health, I will collaborate with the current SIG Chair, SAHM member Dr. Muna Chowdhury, and the newly elected WONCA president, Viviana Martinez-Lacabe.

   The GAMA group’s recent publication (JAH, 2020) expanded the definition of youth health to encompass the idea that adolescents should have the support, confidence, and resources to thrive in environments characterized by secure and healthy relationships, empowering them to realize their full potential and rights. These intersectoral coalitions aim to create traction on these specific areas.

   As the primary public face of SAHM, my role is to continue promoting our organization as a leader in youth health, grounded in the best available science and expertise. I will showcase our commitment to translating knowledge into actionable guidance for young people and their families. My responsibility is to highlight how we build partnerships of care with youth and families, empowering them to make informed decisions about their health. Ultimately, it is their choice to determine what works best for them, and our role is to provide the most effective options.

   I will also emphasize that I am part of a collective of dedicated scholars and advocates who champion youth autonomy and leadership. Together, we work to support young people’s agencies and ability to shape their futures.

   Furthermore, I will continue advocating for increased investment in youth health, stressing how SAHM trains public health professionals, researchers, clinicians, and educators, all advocates equipped to nurture and guide young people’s journeys. I will encourage everyone to invest in us.

   Through my public advocacy, I will continue demonstrating how creating spaces where youth can thrive—developing their identities, leveraging their strengths, and realizing their vision—benefits society. Investing in youth health is not just an investment in their future but in the future of all of us.

   After all, I come from Former Senator Paul Wellstone’s land, and I, too, firmly believe that “we all do better when we all do better.”

2. What are the most effective actions that SAHM can take to improve the health and well-being adolescents and young adults from communities that have been marginalized?
   • We must continue to include diverse perspectives in all committees and leadership positions. Congratulations to SAHM and the Nomination Committee for achieving the most challenging (not generally accomplished) yet most effective intervention in influencing equitable outcomes in an organization: bringing diverse leadership to the forefront. We now have two women, both immigrants from developing countries (Turkey and Argentina), champions of diversity, that had pushed the boundaries of our Society regarding diversity and international inclusion as candidates for President. This is how progress is made!
   • Creating participatory processes that center youth voices is crucial. Integrating them into our governance while considering representation from various identities is essential. Collaborating with civil rights organizations like the ACLU and SPLC is vital to challenging the use of race/ethnicity in creating a culturally concordant workforce, which is now proven critical for achieving equitable outcomes. Until that gets reversed, using positionality and lived experience of marginalization serves the purpose. We should lead training centers to do the same, so we ensure future diverse representation.
   • Building participatory efforts from the ground up, starting with our chapters, is essential for incorporating diverse voices and needs from different regions. We should map our chapters to identify “orphan regions” and find ways to include them. Chapters should have youth representatives, especially those with marginalized experiences, and report quarterly to the Advocacy and Diversity Committee Chairs about new challenges and gains, who will organize critical issues for the Board of Directors and connect our Chapters with SIGs and Committees.
   • We must create processes and benchmarks at various levels to foster internal accountability and ensure representation from frequently marginalized groups.
   • Lastly, we must intentionally collect and elevate the voices and lived experiences of those facing marginalization and oppression (“center on the margins”) to guide our actions.
3. Provide a brief personal statement describing your qualifications to be President of SAHM, including knowledge, skills, and perspectives gained from previous leadership positions in SAHM and other organizations/institutions.
   

   I can trace my journey as an immigrant through the 28 years I’ve been a member of SAHM. I began with the International Chapter, then joined the Diversity Committee, becoming its Chair in 2015—a pivotal year as the nation grappled with heightened conversations around racism, power, and privilege.

   In response, I led the development of a Position Paper linking racism to health, culminating in the creation of SAHM’s anti-racism toolkit. This collaborative initiative propelled my election to the Nomination Committee (2020–2022) and, later, to the SAHM Board in 2022. Serving on the Board when our work became increasingly politicized gave me a broad, nuanced perspective on our organization’s challenges and opportunities. I feel that providing a continuum is vital for SAHM.

   Alongside my work with SAHM, I have contributed to WONCA (see above). In collaboration with WONCA’s Women and Children SIG, we worked with the WHO and the “1.8 Billion Youth for Change” initiative, where I presented youth-led participatory action research at their conference.

   I am a faculty member of the MN LEAH program, where I trained, and I am currently being considered for full professor status at the University of Minnesota.

   I have served on the Medical Executive Committee of my hospital (Minnesota’s largest safety net hospital) during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, and from there, I was chosen to be at the MN COVID Ethic committee, where we created an equity-based formula to distribute COVID treatment (plasma) and vaccines. Then, I became the first Health Equity Clinical Outcomes Medical Director, where I brought an equity lens to our Hospital Quality & Safety Team.

   These experiences deepened my ability to navigate complex, high-stakes situations and create meaningful, actionable change. I am ready to continue leading SAHM in the next challenging years.