I had the good fortune to attend the Mental Health Alliance National Conference whose focus this year was on Next Gen Prevention and from the moment I walked into the room, I knew that El Futuro is not alone in our work to nurture stronger familias.
The conference was full of creative, innovative, resilient, and real people improving mental health for all, and acknowledging the critical role mental health plays not just in our individual lives, but in our community’s overall wellness.
Some of the highlights of the conference were:
The Spirit and Mind Taskforce at Mental Health America which is acknowledging the role that our cultural values and spiritual traditions have in building our emotional wellness.
Presentations from The Anxious Mind podcast and the Center for Public Integrity’s Mental Health Collaborative and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy who is sounding the alarm about the role of social isolation on worsening mental health systems and what we can do to support youth and others in busting this isolation.
Posters and forums by companies like Biogen who are looking for better neurological pathways for anti-depressant medications.
And especially, the emphasis across the board on listening to those with lived experience. As one speaker said, we have to rely on “those who know best about what helps, what harms, and what heals.”
Perhaps most importantly, as El Futuro seeks to enhance mental health promotion, prevent and treatment for Latino Adolescents and Young Adults (LAYA) at El Futuro, I was inspired by MHA’s focus on youth leadership, especially the voices of Jose Caballero from Nicaragua and Mariama Bah, originally from Guinea and now living right here in the Triangle!
Conferences like this one are important to remind ourselves that there are many people, organizations, and companies that are dedicated to improving mental health. We are not alone! Thank you for helping to ensure that El Futuro be a part of this wide web of wellness.
With gratitude,
Kerry
Alvely Alcántara, LCSW
Rossy C. Garcia, MEd 
Katy Sims, MD 
Everardo Aviles, LCSW, LCAS (Eve)
As a medical anthropologist and social work researcher, Dr. Gulbas’ research embodies interdisciplinarity through the integration of applied theories of health and human development with qualitative and ethnographic methodologies. Her work seeks to understand how people—children, families, and providers—navigate complex sociocultural landscapes in the pursuit of mental health. Most of her work, to date, focuses attention on developing more robust interpretations of suicide risk. With funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, this body of research has contributed to advancements in theoretical and empirical knowledge of the broader contexts within which youth suicide risk is situated. 
R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez is a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the principal investigator of a study that examines the impact of immigration-related threat and stress on school communities. She earned a PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University and hold a BA in human biology from Stanford University. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first gen college student.
Dr. Parra-Cardona is an Associate Professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) at the University of Texas at Austin. At the SHSSW, he serves as Coordinator for Mexico and Latin American initiatives. He also serves as Area Director for Research at the UT Austin Latino Research Institute. Dr. Parra-Cardona’s program of research is focused on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based parenting interventions for low-income Latinx populations in the US and Latin America.
Bianka Reese, PhD, MSPH is a research scientist and program evaluator specializing in adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her previous research in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her work as the Research and Evaluation Manager at SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led largescale evaluations of multilevel, community-based sexual health promotion initiatives and research projects aimed at elevating the voices of diverse youth in North Carolina. Dr. Reese is currently the Senior Research Strategist at Creative Research Solutions, LLC, an award-winning national evaluation, research, and assessment firm.
Tania Connaughton-Espino, MPH is an independent researcher focused on adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her interest in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her previous work with SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led the training and evaluation department, conducted capacity-building workshops for youth serving professionals including on the topic of how to be more affirming of LGBTQ youth, and from her extensive experience working with the Latinx population in NC.
Maru Gonzalez, EdD is an Assistant Professor and Youth Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her areas of inquiry include youth development with a focus on activism, social justice, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ young people across familial, school, and community contexts. 
Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD
Hector Y. Adames, PsyD