We’re counting down the days to #HealthyTeen22 in Miami. While we may not be packing our bags yet, we are starting to bookmark the sessions we want to attend.

From diving deeper into our Young Parent’s Logic Model to learning about the power of storytelling in sexual health campaigns (and more!), our team has some incredible sessions that you won’t want to miss!

You’ll have so many fascinating sessions to choose from, but we wanted to take a moment to preview some of the sessions our staff will be offering. From diving deeper into our Young Parent’s Logic Model to learning about the power of storytelling in sexual health campaigns (and more!), our team has some incredible sessions that you won’t want to miss!

Learn more about our staff sessions at #HealthyTeen22:

Workshop Sessions

Three Little Pigs: Storytelling and Innovation in Sexual Health

Milagros Garrido, Director of Innovation & Research; Nicholas Sufrinko, Creative Direction and Product Design Manager; and Patricia Natalie, Design Researcher

Join us around the campfire as we retell the classic fable and explore the enduring power of stories in sexual health care and education. With a bit of myth and folklore, some narrative strategy, and a sprinkle of human-centered design, you’ll learn how to find your voice, develop unforgettable ideas, and breathe life into characters and worlds. 

For audiences (and interventions!) large and small, you’ll see how to lean on old traditions to break through contemporary noise and shift perspective. With this, we’ll not only dare to dream of a new era, but awaken it—with the kind of lasting, real change that promises happily ever after.

Mariah Cowsert, Digital Content Creator, & Sam Akers, Project Coordinator

With more than 2 billion active users worldwide, online social media platforms have the potential to serve as powerful channels for public health—including sexual health initiatives. Although the negative effects of Instagram and other platforms are frequently discussed, the reality is that young people are using them.

So how do we use the power of the digital world for good? In this session designed for social media moguls, digital newbies, and everyone in between, you’ll see real world examples of how you can use social media to inspire action, inform, recruit, connect, and engage with the next generation to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

We will unpack challenges and lessons learned in our work on True You Maryland and COVID *Love Stories, address the realities of creating relatable content for young people, and workshop ways of collaborating with young people for sexual health campaigns and storytelling. Join us to discuss what it looks like to work alongside youth to make social media click.

The Big Picture: A Tool You Can Use to Meet the Unique Needs of Young Parents

Gina Desiderio, Director of Communications, & Milagros Garrido, Director of Innovation and Research

Parents will be the first to tell you how hard it is. All parents, no matter our age, need help and benefit from many different kinds of supports, resources, and education. It’s also hard to be a teen. Smash those two together, and yes adolescents and young adults who are pregnant and parenting have a broad set of unique needs. But what we also know is that when young people who are pregnant or parenting are supported and empowered with essential services and education, they, and their children, can thrive.

But thinking through all these needs can be overwhelming. If you’re a professional who provides programs and services for young parents, you know you want to help them…to nurture the positive development of their child… to pursue and achieve their educational goals…to have safe and healthy relationships…to achieve housing and financial stability…to promote physical and mental and sexual and reproductive health and well-being… It’s a lot.

That’s why Healthy Teen Network developed the Young Parents Logic Model. In this Healthy 15 session, we will briefly explain the purpose of this resource, its development, and how it can be used as a tool to guide program planning, design, selection, and/or evaluation of services for young families

This is only a sneak peak of our incredible line-up of some of our conference sessions; you’ll just have to join us in Miami for #HealthyTeen22 to get the full experience! We can’t wait to see you in-person as we work together to advance social change and strengthen our organizations and communities.