Building a Network for Early Career Professionals - It Takes a Village

After the 2017 IAAH World Congress in New Delhi, India, we (Natalie Yap, Sophie Remoué Gonzales, and Jason Nagata) were approached by IAAH President Susan Sawyer about launching a network specifically focused on building relationships and providing opportunities for adolescent early career professionals around the world. After some discussion, the IAAH Young Professionals Network (YPN) was launched, and what an incredible journey it has been since then. This global interdisciplinary network of young professionals banned together and produced several adolescent health webinars, resource lists, and publications. A mentorship program focused on pairing senior adolescent health experts with early career professionals was developed. And the 2021 IAAH World Congress provided a venue to showcase the culmination of the YPN’s work, featuring several Young Professionals Network workshops and events.

Our work could not be possible without the support of Susan Sawyer, the IAAH Council, and our YPN Committee Officers. We are excited to hand over the reins to the new co-chairs, who have already served as dedicated YPN officers over the past few years. We wish the new co-chairs and officers the best as they advance this global network of current and future adolescent health leaders. As we transition out of our roles, we would like to introduce you to the new co-chairs of the IAAH Young Professionals Network – Dyana Velies, Melis Pehlivantürk-Kizilkan, Molly O’Sullivan, and Stephanie Partridge.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and the YPN over the last four years.

Jason Nagata, Sophie Remoué Gonzales, and Natalie Yap
IAAH YPN Co-Chairs 2017-2021

Next Steps

Thank you to Jason, Sophie, and Natalie and all the officers that helped to establish the IAAH Young Professionals Network! We (Molly O’Sullivan, Dyana Velies, Melis Pehlivantürk, and Stephanie Partridge) are very excited to step into the role of co-chairs and build on the tremendous work achieved by Jason, Sophie, and Natalie and all the officers. Having served as YPN officers since its inception, we are able to bring working knowledge of the YPN committees (Community Engagement, Leadership & Mentorship, Communications, and Education & Training) to the leadership role, as well as personal expertise in clinical adolescent medicine, communications, and public health.

We offer our sincere thanks to our departing officers, Suzanne Crowley, Abdullah Bin Shabbir, Emmanuel Adebayo, Souvik Pyne and Tomás Plaza Reneses, for their commitment and all the hard work they have contributed over the years.

We look forward to sharing our goals for 2022 and introducing new committee members in the coming weeks.

Molly O’Sullivan, Dyana Velies, Melis Pehlivantürk, and Stephanie Partridge
IAAH YPN Co-Chairs 2022-2025

If you’d like to join the YPN, please fill out our brief membership form.