Minnesota Institute of Public Health

This year’s conference brings with it the possibility of an appearance by the recently confirmed US Surgeon General. MOAPPP officially invited Dr. Regina Benjamin to address our conferees and, if her schedule permits, her appearance brings with it national recognition of MOAPPP as a leader in our field. Even if the Surgeon General is unable to join us, conference planners have confirmed three highly respected and charismatic keynote speakers to provide data, stories and calls to action during the upcoming conference. They are: James Wagoner, Hector Sanchez-Flores and Michele Ozumba.

For more than a dozen years, James Wagoner, a respected public policy and reproductive health expert, has been the President of Advocates for Youth, a leading national organization on adolescent reproductive and sexual health.

Héctor Sanchez-Flores has presented throughout the country on such topics as: preventing unintended fatherhood, developing male relevant health services, engaging fathers in prevention and social services, and the development of culturally appropriate services for boys, men and fathers. A Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, he maintains close contact with local programs, measuring the impact they have on young and adult men.

Michele Ozumba is President and CEO of the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. She joined the organization in 1999 as its first Policy Director. Previously she was a lecturer in Urban Planning at the University of Nigeria and earlier, an urban planning consultant to New Brunswick Tomorrow, a public/private redevelopment organization spearheaded by the Johnson & Johnson Corporation. In addition, Ms. Ozumba recently completed a term on the National Advisory Council on Sexual Health chaired by Dr. David Satcher, former US Surgeon General.

Beyond the three keynote addresses, the conference will also offer 25 skills and capacity building breakout sessions on a wide range of topics as well as exhibits and opportunities for networking among practitioners who care about current research, science-based approaches, educational resources, policy initiatives and emerging issues related to adolescent sexual health, pregnancy prevention and adolescent parents.

For additional details and information, please visit: http://www.moappp.org/training/conference.html