Project UNITY Closes National Health Coalition Summit with Call for Next-Generation Leadership

Student-Led Nonprofit Delivers Closing Keynote at Common Health Coalition Annual Meeting, Signaling Shift in Health Systems Leadership

WASHINGTON, D.C., DC, UNITED STATES, December 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Project UNITY, a national student-led nonprofit, closed the Common Health Coalition's Annual Meeting on December 10, 2025, with a capstone plenary that centered youth leadership as essential to the future of health systems. Rotimi Kukoyi, Co-Director of Project UNITY's Youth Public Health Innovation Coalition (Y-PHIC), served as the only undergraduate student speaker on the program, delivering the closing keynote before an audience that included Dr. Mandy Cohen, former CDC Director, and Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, a TIME 100 in Health public health communicator.

The selection of Project UNITY to close the national summit marks a significant moment for the organization and reflects growing recognition among health leaders that youth-led movements are not the future of health systems work, but essential partners in building them today.

Kukoyi was chosen as Featured Speaker and Moderator for "Looking Ahead: The Next Generation of Health Partnership," the capstone session that brought the day-long convening to a close. In his remarks, he outlined Project UNITY's vision for health systems built on equity, lived experience, and the leadership of young people who refuse to wait for change.

"We are not waiting for hope. We are seeking to create it," Kukoyi told the room of national health care and public health leaders. "For young people, hope is not just a feeling that we are searching for. It is a method. It is a science we are using to construct a future we want to live in."

Kukoyi challenged traditional notions of leadership development, calling on senior leaders to engage young people not as beneficiaries of health systems, but as architects of them. He emphasized that influence is not degree-specific and that young people need to be equipped with the skills and platforms to build better systems, not simply inherit broken ones.

"If we are only partnering with finished products, then we are failing the future," Kukoyi said, describing Project UNITY's approach to preparing emerging leaders by meeting them where they are and investing in their development from day one.

Following his keynote, Kukoyi led an interactive audience engagement session and moderated a call-to-action dialogue with senior coalition leaders, guiding the official unveiling of the Common Health Coalition's 2026 Challenge, a national initiative to strengthen regional collaboration, improve data-sharing infrastructure, and advance coordinated public health and health care partnerships.

Dr. Dave Chokshi, former New York City Health Commissioner and faculty member at the CUNY School of Public Health, offered closing remarks that underscored the significance of Project UNITY's presence and leadership at the summit. "The youth that are here today, the folks at Project UNITY who are here today, what distinguishes you is the expansiveness of your humanity, and that makes me extremely hopeful for the future," Dr. Chokshi said. "It is genuinely inspiring."

The closing plenary brought the summit full circle by explicitly centering the next generation of leaders as essential to building health systems that are responsive, inclusive, and prepared for future challenges. Kukoyi's message resonated throughout the room: that the impatience young people feel with the status quo is not a liability, but a catalyst that can be transformed into motivation, momentum, and meaningful change.

In addition to Kukoyi's featured role, Project UNITY's senior leadership was represented throughout the convening, including Justin Chang, Senior Director of Education, and Diana Jacob, Director of Marketing, who joined national health care and public health leaders for a full day of dialogue on trust, partnership, and the future of cross-sector collaboration. Their presence underscored Project UNITY's commitment to engaging across leadership, education, and communications to help shape the next generation of health systems work.

The Common Health Coalition Annual Meeting convened leaders from across health care, public health, payer organizations, and community partners to examine trust, preparedness, and collaboration across sectors. By selecting Project UNITY to deliver the closing vision, the coalition signaled that youth-led organizations are now recognized partners in shaping national health policy and systems change.

About Project UNITY
Project UNITY is a national, student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preparing the next generation of health leaders through interdisciplinary education, youth-led innovation, and community-centered public health practice.
For more information about Project UNITY or to join its growing community of educators, health care leaders, and students, visit www.projectunitynfp.org or email info@projectunitynfp.org, and sign up for our newsletter.

Diana Jacob
Director of Marketing, Project UNITY
diana.jacob@projectunitynfp.org

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