Dr Wanda Boone founded PCDC/Together for Resilient Youth (TRY) in 2000 after 20 years in the corporate sector. TRY is a community coalition, based in Durham, now has a presence across NC, the US and internationally in Kenya, the UK and Australia. TRY’s mission is to use the public health model to address underlying adverse experiences that result in behavioral health challenges such as substance use, chronic disease and violence by increasing resilience and reducing community risk factors through mobilization and collective impact.
Dr. Boone is a forerunner and recognized as an expert in the field of Resilience/Adverse Childhood Experiences and trauma informed living. She believes that children thrive when the adults that surround them are well and do well. This focus which began in 2014 found a perfect partner in “Change Your Words. Change Your World.” Writing for Resilience with John Evans. She became a facilitator in 2021 and Master Trainer under John Evans in October 2022.
Dr Boone is a member of the National Collaborative for Effective Prescription Opioid Policies (including prevention) and the National Society of Prevention Sciences, NC Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience Advisory Board. She served as the Co-Chair of the National Institutes of Medicine Healthy NC 2030 Social and Economic Factors work group focusing on the impact of trauma and the importance of resilience. She is the Chair of the ACEs Subcommittee for the 2022 North Carolina State Health Improvement Plan.
She is a RN, Sr. RA, Duke University Medical Center and holds a PhD in Theology and Public Health.
