UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — “Using Participatory Action Research to Create Transformational Youth Interventions” will be the theme of the Penn State Child Study Center’s 2024 Innovation Hub Symposium taking place from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, Feb. 23, in the Memorial Lounge, room 107, of the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. The event, which includes a continental breakfast, is free and open to the public; however, advance registration is required.

The Innovation Hub Symposium is a biennial event designed to examine and explore cutting-edge, innovative ways of conceptualizing and designing interventions around a particular topic. This year's event will feature four researchers whose work employs Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) in constituting, designing and implementing interventions that sow the seeds of social justice and empower youth to action:

• Martha Wadsworth, Penn State professor of psychology, will speak on “Getting Back to BaSICS: Coping and Empowerment Intervention for Youth in Poverty”
• M. Alex Wagaman, associate professor in the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University, will discuss “YPAR Interventions with Homeless LGBTQ Teens”
• Emily Lemon, assistant professor in the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, will speak on “Cultivating a Culture of Resistance and Resilience with Latinx Youth Using YPAR”
• Robin Lindquist-Grantz, a researcher with Mathematica, will discuss “Leveraging Participatory Research to Improve Public Well-being and Transform Communities”

This year’s symposium is co-sponsored by the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center. For additional information, please contact Laureen Teti at lot1@psu.edu.