Center for Youth Wellness

The Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) is part of a national effort to revolutionize pediatric medicine and transform the way society responds to kids exposed to adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress.

Led by founder and CEO, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, we are a health organization partnered with a pediatric home that serves children and families in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco. We were created to respond to an urgent public health issue: early adversity harms the developing brains and bodies of children.

The Center for Youth Wellness seeks to transform the delivery of primary care for children in a way that recognizes and addresses ACEs as a major risk factor for chronic disease. By changing the way in which primary care physicians, nurses—and society in general—recognize, treat, and respond to youth who may be at risk for or are experiencing toxic stress, CYW aims to bring about better health outcomes throughout the life course.

Our work has been featured on local, statewide and national levels including contribution to The Shriver Report, partnership with Hillary Clinton and Next Generation’s Too Small To Fail Initiative, hosting California’s first Statewide Adverse Childhood Experiences Summit and plenary presentations at the national meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics. We’re poised to continue growing our model of clinical, research and policy in relentless pursuit of our goal to improve the health of children and adolescents exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences.