HAEi Youngsters Celebrating 2022 with High Expectations for the New Year

Hi everyone,

It’s hard to believe we are already getting close to celebrating a New Year! Before we talk about our plans for 2023, however, let’s reflect on the great things that happened throughout 2022.

We kicked the year off with so many goals that even the Youngsters’ Community Coordinator, Nevena Tsutsumanova, thought we were a bit crazy! Yet, here we are at the end of 2022, and looking back, we (along with Nevena) are very proud of what has been accomplished.

The year started with a lot of hope and excitement as many countries began lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Everything felt a bit brighter as the world started opening and returning to at least some sense of normal.

Our 2022 began with a fantastic meeting between the HAEi Youngsters Advisory Group members and HAEi Leadership. The meeting truly revolutionized how we looked at the future of the HAEi Youngsters Community. During the meeting, we reflected on the goals, hopes, and dreams for our incredible community. Doing so led us to consider ways that we can help the Youngsters’ Community grow, become more active, have more opportunities to learn from each other, and find ways to give something back to our local HAE communities.

We revamped the HAEi Youngsters Community logo with our own unique design that reflects a theme that communicates our special message: The Youngsters Community is one family with many faces, and serves as a bridge that unites people of all ages and cultures.

The HAE Friends Around the World initiative began with the aim of connecting, sharing, and supporting our HAEi Youngsters. We are very happy to report that throughout the year, we managed to reconnect with many of our community members as well as welcome new ones!

We added a new feature to our website – The Hangout, which is a collection of short videos, blogs, and resources on HAE, motivation, and life in general. The content includes presentations from international HAE experts, stories from youngsters, caregivers, and parents, and tools developed by HAEi to help you manage HAE in your daily life. We will regularly add new content and encourage you to participate. This is your page, so please let us know if you have a story you would like to share or a question you would like answered.

>> Visit The Hangout on the HAEi Youngsters’ Website

The HAEi Youngsters Community was also presented at the 2022 HAEi Global Leadership Workshop in Frankfurt, Germany. Such excitement and joy filled us when we got the chance to be there and meet with youngsters we hadn’t met before but also with the friends we had missed seeing for a long time. It was really nice catching up with our HAEi Youngsters’ friends, and amazing to see how we’ve grown up since the last time we met in person!

Last but not least is the 2022 launch of HAEi LEAP! This new educational program aims to train and motivate future HAEi advocacy leaders. It is designed to provide youngsters with new skills that will help them develop as individuals and HAE advocates. HAEi LEAP will offer participants the opportunity to gain invaluable experience and learn new skills. HAEi LEAP participants will work directly with their local Member Organizations on an advocacy project that will support the local HAE community.

Clearly, 2022 was a great year, but there are many exciting things planned for 2023!

We will kickstart the year by participating in a specially designed Youngsters track (ages 12-25) at the 2023 HAEi APAC Regional Conference in March. That is a meeting that no HAEi Youngster in the APAC region should miss!

Just two weeks later, the HAEi LEAP Class of 2023 will meet in Dubai to kick off the education program. And a few months after that, another regional conference for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will be upon us with a Youngsters track of its own.

Those are just a few of the amazing things coming to you next year. So don’t miss out, and stay tuned to the HAEi Youngsters website and Hangout.

Happy holidays everyone! And a Happy New Year!
Your HAEi Youngsters Advisory Group