Our Founder

CPMC Bayview Child Health Center (BCHC) founded with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris as the first medical director.

Tipping Point Community raises over $4 million for the Center for Youth Wellness building in the Bayview Hunters Point Neighborhood of San Francisco.

Center for Youth Wellness Community Advisory Council (CAC) created.

Enters policy conversations when CEO Dr. Nadine Burke Harris speaks at Congressional Briefing in Washington, DC on behalf of the National Health Collaborative on Violence and Abuse.

Announces partnership with "Too Small to Fail," a joint initiative with Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and Next Generation.

Co-hosts a trauma convening with The California Endowment in Sacramento.

CEO Dr. Nadine Burke Harris receives the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine award presented by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition (NCE).

Partners with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and Supervisor Malia Cohen to implement $1 million federal grant to address the impact of crime victimization in Bayview.

Serves 200+ patients impacted by ACEs and toxic stress this year.

Contributes an essay on the impacts of ACEs and toxic stress on children to the Shriver Report: “A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink."

CEO Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and COO Suzy Loftus, Esq. honored with 2014 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award.

Celebrates the opening of the Center for Youth Wellness Building located at 3450 3rd Street housing the Bayview Child Health Center (BCHC) and the Children’s Advocacy Center. The opening was the culmination of a months-long collaboration between the Center for Youth Wellness and community advocates dedicated to seeing the clinic come to fruition.

Publishes first white paper “An Unhealthy Dose of Stress: The impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and toxic stress on childhood health and development”, establishing Center for Youth Wellness’ emphasis on disseminating learnings throughout broader ACEs community.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 155, recognizing the impact of ACEs and toxic stress on childhood development and sponsored by the Center for Youth Wellness, is passed by the California Legislature with unanimous bipartisan support.

Establishes the Community Research Board (CRB), a body of community stakeholders to provide feedback on our research agenda.

Hosts members of the Henrietta Lacks family (featured in The New York Times bestseller “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”) and more than 150 Bayview Hunters Point community members to discuss biomedical research in low-income communities of color.

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris takes a global stage, speaking at the 2014 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting on panel, “The Science of Success: Investing in Babies’ Minds,” with early childhood development champion Hillary Clinton.

Hosts the first California ACEs summit “Children Can Thrive,” welcoming over 200 leaders from across the state to address ACEs as a public health crisis.

Publishes “A Hidden Crisis: Findings on Adverse Childhood Experiences in California,” a first-of-its-kind report examining the prevalence of ACEs using data from the California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Founder and CEO Dr. Nadine Burke Harris speaks in front of Congress on behalf of the Kempe Center at the Summer 2015 Washington Child Abuse and Neglect Research Visibility Initiative Congressional Briefing.

Develops and releases the CYW Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE-Q) and User Guide as a screening tool and protocol for pediatric care providers, a resource that has been since downloaded more than 2,000 times in 24 countries.

Launches the Bay Area Research Consortium (BARC) with a ground-breaking $4.8 million grant from the Tara Health Foundation and in partnership with UCSF and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland to study biomarkers, bolstering research and delivering the first validated tool to investigate how childhood adversity affects children’s health.

Releases policy report, “Children Can Thrive: A Vision for California’s Response to Adverse Childhood Experiences,” sparking conversation about social change.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) hosts its first-ever pre-conference session on ACEs and toxic stress, and features CYW founder and CEO Dr. Nadine Burke Harris as their keynote speaker.

Hosts California Policy Convening on Childhood Adversity, inviting leaders from early childhood, education, health, child welfare and juvenile justice from around California, resulting in publication of “An Action Plan: 7 Recommendations for Addressing Childhood Adversity in California.”

ACEs TEDMED talk by CYW Founder and CEO Dr. Nadine Burke Harris viewed 3 million+ times and used actively in trainings, college curricula and continuing education programs. The TED talk has been pivotal in CYWs role as a national messenger of ACEs and toxic stress awareness.

Featured in Jamie Redford’s film, “Resilience: The Biology of Stress; The Science of Hope,” selected for participation at Sundance Film Festival and shown nearly 3,500 times throughout 7 countries.

Completes FIT pilot study.

Completes first-of-its-kind community-based participatory research (CBPR) study on childhood adversity in partnership with Leadership High School students.

Dr. Burke Harris, as a guest of the Child Development Agency (CDA), speaks with health professionals about ACEs. CDA is a leader in Jamaica’s child protection system and works to promote child-friendly policies and groundbreaking programs to strengthen families.

Visits the White House with Leadership High youth to participate in a panel on trauma-informed approaches in school and specific efforts to support girls of color and rethinking discipline.

Our founder and CEO Dr. Burke Harris awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for the Human Condition, recognizing her leadership in the field.

Convenes second biannual Center for Youth Wellness National Conference on ACEs with 500+ practitioners, educators and pediatricians, featuring inspirational speakers like Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Bryan Stevenson.

Supports launch of the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA), a collaboration of stakeholders representing child welfare, early childhood, education, health, and youth justice to develop a statewide policy agenda to prevent and mitigate effects of ACEs.

Hosts pediatric symposium for 122 pediatricians, nurses and other medical staff working on or interested in ACE screening and referrals within pediatric medical settings.

Begins recruitment for PEdiatric ACEs Screening and ResiLiency pilot study (PEARLS study) in collaboration with the Bay Area Research Consortium (BARC), contributing to the science of childhood adversity.

Launched National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs to support our national effort to transform clinical understanding and practice for children exposed to early adversity through universal screening for ACEs

Presents findings from systematic review of pediatric health outcomes associated with childhood adversity at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition

Publishes "Adversity and Academic Performance Among Adolescent Youth: A Community-Based Participatory Research Study" in Journal of Adolescent and Family Health

Assembly Bills 340 and 1340, improving trauma screening in children, and supported by 4CA's Policymaker Education Day in July 2017, are signed.