We recently sat down with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California’s first surgeon general, and Dave Ellis, the first executive director of the Office of Resilience at the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.
A pioneering voice on prevention, early identification, and treatment of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Dr. Burke Harris gained national prominence with her viral 2015 TED talk on this topic. Dave Ellis made his name as a national leader in providing trainings and facilitating conversations on adversity and trauma in the lives of young children, and the lasting impacts of ACEs and generational trauma.
In our conversation, Dr. Burke Harris brought her clinical background to bear, sharing the critical role doctors and other health care professionals can play in prevention, early identification, and treatment of ACEs, and Dave Ellis provided his expertise on the need to partner with communities to design upstream solutions to prevent ACEs and get input on how best to manage their impact.
It was a privilege to speak with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and Dave Ellis about how to engage the medical profession and the community to address and reduce Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Read on for highlights from our enlightening conversation:
You both are in roles that are considered “firsts.” Dr. Burke Harris, you’re California’s first surgeon general and, Dave Ellis, you’re executive director of the new Office of Resilience in New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families. How did these positions come about?
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris: How my role came about is actually a very funny story. I had known Governor Newsom from when he was mayor of San Francisco. He had been really involved in community work, and he came and spoke at the opening of my clinic, the Bayview Child Health Center. From mayor, Newson went on to become lieutenant governor and when he was running for governor, I occasionally sent notes to his team, keeping them updated on what was happening on ACEs. I would explain about the excellent work on ACEs in other states and ask, “What is California doing about ACEs?” Sometimes we think we’re just shouting from the rooftops and we don’t know where it goes, but in this case it led to Governor Newsom issuing an executive order to create the role of state surgeon general. He specifically wanted someone to look at the upstream drivers of some of our biggest health challenges and was looking for a leader who would also take on ACEs and toxic stress. I was more than ready to take on those challenges and it’s been an amazing experience since I started in 2019.
Dave Ellis: Interestingly, New Jersey’s commitment to working on ACEs began with Dr. Burke Harris. After seeing Dr. Burke Harris’ TED talk about ACEs, the Burke Foundation partnered with The Nicholson Foundation and the Turrell Fund to host a dinner to discuss the need to do something here in the state. They felt they were pouring all this money into the community but were still not seeing the changes that they believed needed to happen.
Continue reading here
Comments (0)