This Global-to-Local Partner Spotlight explores a simple yet powerful truth: health is shaped not only by access to healthcare but also by the social determinants of health that influence whether people feel safe, connected, and able to thrive in the communities they call home.
For refugee and immigrant youth, a soccer field can become much more than a place to play. Amid the uncertainty of displacement and resettlement, it offers something both simple and profound: a place to belong. Through sport, Soccer Without Borders supports physical health while creating opportunities for young people to find their footing in a new community, discover their own strengths, and begin imagining a future rooted in connection rather than uncertainty.
Join us for this conversation, which will reflect on how communities can foster health, belonging, and opportunity. What becomes possible when young people are recognized, not merely as recipients of support, but as resilient leaders in their own right?
Speakers
Ben Gucciardi, M. Ed. (he/him/his), Founder & Director of Special Projects, Soccer Without Borders
Youth Participant
Zarin Noor, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UCSF; Director, International Clinic at Primary Care Center of Excellence for Immigrant Child Health and Wellbeing; Associate Program Director, Children’s Hospital Oakland Pediatric Residency Program
UCSF welcomes all participants to our events. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event because of a disability, please contact Pilar Deer at pilar.deer@ucsf.edu as soon as possible.