About the Event

Agenda

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ben Danielson

Dr. Danielson is a clinical professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington. For two decades he was the medical director at the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, which serves mostly low-income families in an historically Black community. He resigned this dream-job in late 2020 in protest of racism and related dysfunctions at the clinic’s overseeing entity: Seattle Children’s Hospital.

He continues to work for the justice and well-being of young people impacted by harmful systems. For example, he launched Allies for Healthier Systems for Health and Abundance in Youth (AHSHAY, which, phonetically is an African American term for joyful concurrence) to catalyze efforts to create a world without harmful youth incarceration.

Dr Danielson works with community groups, organizations, councils and gatherings that focus on equity or reimagine healthcare. He has chaired philanthropic boards as well as state councils, and he has spoken across the country in health-related settings.

The unifying thread in Dr. Danielson’s activities relates to promoting well-being and dignity; especially for communities who have been pushed aside. He has benefitted from co-conspiring with brilliant youth and an abundance of compassionate people.

Dr Danielson spent his early childhood in Washington DC, finished high school in Montana, went to college at Harvard and completed medical school as well as residency in Seattle. He has been married to the love of his life for 17 years who, for some reason, agreed to marry him.

Planning Committee