Aspen Forum for Community Solutions Opportunity Youth Forum (OYF) Fall Convening 2024
Dr. Cantor kicks off a national conversation centering holistic health and healing efforts, belonging, meaning, wellbeing, and purpose to transform outcomes for youth and young adults.
October 28-30, 2024
Pamela Cantor, M.D. (Photo: Aspen Forum for Community Solutions)
On October 29, 2024, Pamela Cantor, M.D., delivered the opening keynote at the Aspen Institute / Aspen Forum for Community Solutions Opportunity Youth Forum (OYF) Fall Convening 2024.
The Opportunity Youth Forum (OYF) is a network of over forty local collaborations in urban, rural, and tribal communities across the United States that seeks better outcomes in education, employment and overall well-being for opportunity youth, 16-24 years of age. (Read more about OYF’s work on opportunity youth).
Dr. Cantor’s address was part of the plenary session Redesigning Systems to Support Thriving Youth: A Roadmap to Advancing Mental Health, Wellbeing, and Agency, which emphasized the importance of creating environments where young people can flourish. During her address, Dr. Cantor challenged the audience to rethink how we approach learning and human potential:
“We have not gotten to the right answers about learning, performance and unlocking potential because we have not been asking enough of the right questions. Specifically, what are the forces that define the expression of human potential and the acquisition of competencies at greater and greater levels of performance, no matter where a person begins? And what experiences, environments, and relationships are necessary to produce those results?”
—PAMELA CANTOR, M.D.
The plenary session included collaboration and discussion with leaders including Monique Miles, Cristal Salcido, and Brooke Solomon, and was facilitated by Melody Barnes, the chair of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions and Opportunity Youth Forum, offering a broad view of collective efforts to uplift opportunity youth.
Melody Barnes, Brooke Solomon, Cristal Salcido, and Pamela Cantor, M.D. (Photo: AFCS)
Watch the video on The Aspen Institute's YouTube channel.
