Annual Conference

April 28-29, 2026

2026 Keynote Speaker

Heather Kennedy is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Community & Behavioral Health at the Colorado School of Public Health. Dr. Kennedy is the Director of the Hub for Youth Engagement, which houses grant and contract-funded projects to amplify the voices of young people to create community change through participatory inquiry and organizing. The flagship offering of the Hub is UpRISE, Colorado’s youth tobacco control movement. In each offering, her team provides coaching for adults to build authentic partnerships with youth. Dr. Kennedy has led dozens of youth leadership groups and YPAR projects with middle, high school, and college-aged youth.

Heather started in public health as a 16-year-old participant in a youth tobacco control movement and has since been a stalwart advocate for ensuring that youth can exercise the full power of their voices.

2026 Inspiration Award Recipients

Every year at the conference, Youth Healthcare Alliance honors 3-5 individuals who engage in meaningful work in their school-based health clinics. These individuals make a difference for the youth and families who visit our clinics through their leadership, passion, empathy, and commitment. Nominated by their colleagues, we recognized the efforts of these four individuals at our conference with special awards created by a youth artist at Arts Street.

Arts Street use the power of creativity in breaking the cycle of generational poverty in Denver communities by gaining personal and economic stability through arts, education, technology, and employment training. This program provides youth with an opportunity to create and sell art. We are so pleased to have given these unique awards to these incredible individuals and leaders in the school-based healthcare network.

Maria Sandoval
Denver Health School-Based
Health Clinics

Whitney Gustin Connor
Kids First Health Care

Meg Tomcho, MD
STRIDE Community Health Centers

Tiare Elazzouzi
A Kidz Clinic

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Conference Details for Attendees

Registration for the YHA Conference is now closed. No late registrations or refunds will be allowed, due to capacity limits.

Final agenda is avaiable for viewing. This year's conference will have a different general format than years past. The general format for 2026 is as follows:

April 28 - YHA's Conference begins in the afternoon for half-day at Courtyard
April 29 - YHA's Conference continues for full day
April 30 - CDPHE grantees will convene at CDPHE offices down the street from Courtyard for all-grantee meeting in the morning and SBIRT MITEY training in the afternoon

Conference pricing is as follows:

Non-member rate: $185
Member rate: $165*
Speaker rate: $135
Group rate (per 6 individuals from same organization): $850

*YHA encourages all organizations to renew their YHA membership for 2026 as soon as possible in order to access conference discount codes before the time of conference registration. Any discounts not taken will be received as a donation for Youth Healthcare Alliance -- we do not have the capacity to administer partial refunds.

Attendees will be able to receive continuing medical education and continuing education (CME/CEs) credits through Weitzman Institute for various professional associations. Details for submitting for CME/CE and obtaining documentation for them will be provided as part of the conference program. (Note: CME/CEs are not provided for CDPHE-hosted sessions after the YHA conference concludes on April 29).