- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by New Jersey Sharing Network.

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- This is One-On-One.

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- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

Recently on our sister series "Lessons in Leadership," I sat down with Nicole Harris-Hollingsworth, who's the Senior Vice President, Social Determinants and Impact at Hackensack Meridian Health.

We talked about vaccine education, human trafficking, a whole range of important issues that are not being discussed enough in media today.

Nicole talked about these issues, particularly this issue of human trafficking with worldwide events taking place in New Jersey, like the World Cup.

Check out this compelling, important conversation.

- Doctor, good have you with us again.

- Glad to be here.

- Now we're taping this at the end of January, 2025.

It'll be seen later, but January, we were just talking before we got on the air, is in fact Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

First talk about the crisis of human trafficking as to where we are right now, and then we'll talk about why it is a potentially bigger problem as the World Cup comes to New Jersey in this region.

Please, Doctor.

- Right, so human trafficking is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to entice or force someone into acts of sex or labor against their will.

This is a tremendous issue, not just because unfortunately the United States and Mexico are number one and two in the world as it relates to human trafficking, but with the upcoming World Cup and Club games that are going to be occurring in the state of New Jersey, we know that that activity is going to increase dramatically over the next several months and up until the end of World Cup.

- Why is that, that it increases?

I've always heard that, but I don't really understand why and please share with our audience.

- Sure, so we're scheduled to get approximately a million new visitors to our state over the course of these games.

Unfortunately, with large sporting events, this is a business for some, and so they travel to wherever the large sporting event is to offer these services, both in terms of the sex trade, but more importantly in terms of the labor trade.

A lot of the construction workers and the like that are engaged are being trafficked.

They're coming in against their will.

- Help us understand, to what degree is the issue of human trafficking from your vantage point seen as a high-priority situation, problem, that must be confronted?

- Right, so human trafficking is such a high priority that it's been named for our institution one of the top seven areas of focus for 2025, and it's human trafficking and the violence that comes along with it.

We know that while there are the two main types of human trafficking, both sex trafficking and labor trafficking, with the increase of migrants, with the increase of changes just in laws around immigration and services, that we're gonna see people vulnerable to that plus baby trafficking and organ trafficking and all sorts of, you know, untoward enticements that will keep people unfortunately bonded in this way.

- When you say it's one of the seven priorities of the organization, to do what?

- So it is our priority to both address the human trafficking that we're seeing within our patient population, but also ensure that they are connected to community resources.

We know that the average trafficking victim comes into a hospital seven times before they're willing to admit that they're being trafficked.

So we wanna make sure that for anyone who is brave enough to disclose their status, that we're able to connect them to the community services and to transition them from being a human trafficking victim to a human trafficking survivor and make sure that they're connected in a way that brings them back into independence.

- Doctor, I'm gonna try to broaden this discussion in this way.

Big picture question, I know.

There are a significant number of Americans who quote, don't trust the public health infrastructure, particularly five years after COVID became a horrible reality in our lives.

To what degree do you believe the leaders in the public health community need to communicate in ways that are not just understood, but trusted at a higher level?

I know it's a loaded question, but if we don't trust those who know best, then who in the heck, who the heck are we trusting?

- That is a loaded question.

- I know, but is it a legitimate question in terms of public health and information about public health?

- Right, so the basic understanding between healthcare and the community is that a hospital is a place that should be safe.

And so when you're looking at the way in which we're communicating, what we communicate is safety.

Come here and be safe.

You know all of the laws, come here and be safe.

We will take care of you.

We will protect you.

So related to human trafficking or any other priority, we have to continue to communicate that message.

We will help you be safe.

We will help to, if you get yourself in some kind of trouble, we will help rescue you.

And that's again, what we saw in COVID.

And unfortunately it's what we believe we're gonna see in human trafficking.

During COVID, despite the confusions, people still, in the end, when it all went wrong, you come to the hospital.

You know, when it comes to human trafficking, we want you to know if it's all going wrong in life, come to the hospital and we will ensure that we can connect you to places that will help you be safer.

- Extremely well said.

And also, let me add this, one of the other areas outside of human trafficking that we're going to be engaged in a public health awareness initiative and cooperation with HMH involves vaccine education, vaccine awareness.

Why?

And I'm not gonna get on my soapbox, but I'll just say this because credible, legitimate, accurate, important information about vaccines is more important than ever before.

Doctor, if you wanna comment on that, fine.

If not, it's okay.

But it seems to me that is our responsibility, please.

- Right, I believe I agree with what you're saying.

I do believe that hospitals do have that credibility.

We at HMH have that credibility on both sides of it.

We have both the credibility around our information as well as the longevity.

We are going to be here.

HMH through its various iterations, has been in New Jersey and at the heart of New Jersey for more than a hundred years through its varying incorporated hospitals.

We're going to be here for the long run to help people.

And you know, being vaccinated is a part of the public health responsibility and the community's commitment in keeping itself safe.

- Doctor, cannot thank you enough for joining us.

I promise you, as things move forward, particularly on the public health front, we will have you back to join us and get us up to date with accurate, important, credible information.

Thank you, Doctor.

- All right, thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- Recently, my colleague, Mary Gamba and I, on our series, "Lessons in Leadership," had the chance to sit down with a leader in higher ed.

She's Monica Burnette, Vice President Student Services at Seton Hall University to talk about mental health, mental health in college students, the stress, the anxiety, the pressures they feel, and what we need to do to first, acknowledge it, and second, deal with it.

An important conversation.

- Good to see you, Monica.

- Good to see you too.

Thank you for having me.

- It's a pleasure having you.

Let's jump right into this.

College student mental health, an epidemic?

- Well, unfortunately, nationally, Steve, there has been a growing trend of college students who are really showing higher levels of anxiety and depression and stress than in previous years.

We're also seeing across college campuses a higher demand for mental health support, including increased utilization and really need to offer more robust services.

- Along those lines, before Mary jumps in, Mary has one student and one son in college.

- Right.

- One who recently left college to be gainfully employed.

- Graduated, didn't just leave.

- Congratulations.

(hosts laughing) - Adding that graduated.

- Yeah, thank you.

- He left and is no longer- - And we have two in college right now.

So here's the thing I keep thinking about, and you can help all of us, Monica, with this.

- Sure.

- College student mental health, for those of us who are parents, affects our mental health, does it not?

- Absolutely.

I think it can be contributed to several factors.

You know, I think that post-pandemic impacts, you know, students are feeling more isolated, more lonely.

We're seeing, especially in the K-12 sector, some significant academic learning gaps.

And we know our college students are using more social media and technology, and then there's also financial stress with the rising cost of education, right?

So I think that there's several factors, and this impacts not only students, but also their parents too, who are also dealing with this.

- As Mary jumps in, the website for Seton Hall will be up, go and check out Student Services there and a whole range of activities going on at the university.

Mary, please.

- Absolutely.

One of those services, Great Minds Dare to Care.

I know I was speaking with your team, Laurie Pine and Matt, thank you so much for prepping us for today.

But it's really tied to Seton Hall's What Great Minds Can Do.

Can you talk a little bit about that and what exactly is a Great Minds Dare to Care program?

- Absolutely.

You know, one of the things that we really focus on at Seton Hall is care for the community.

And that is really big here.

And we've been fortunate to not only look at best practices with our counseling and psychological services program, but also to collaborate with external partners too.

So the good news is the state of New Jersey has really been at the forefront of this mental health crisis for our students, and they've recognized the need to assist colleges and have generously provided grant funding for our Great Minds Dare to Care program.

And what that is, is it allows us to provide all of our community members with opportunities to engage in things like training and resources and activities that really promote tools and strategies for managing mental health and helping others.

So it's really a community-wide effort.

So not just students being trained, but also faculty and staff members as well.

It really takes a village.

- Monica, I'm gonna follow up on that.

Great question, Mary, but I wanna jump on this.

Has the crisis in mental health for young people, particularly college-age students, has it changed the role of universities in the lives of those students?

Has it really changed what the university needs to be?

- I definitely think that it does.

I think the expectations that college students have of what they're going to experience at university has changed.

And I think institutions have to move forward with innovative ideas and not just the status quo.

We have to keep evolving.

Every new cohort of students presents different challenges.

And I think that as the mental health crisis continues, we really do need to be able to partner and collaborate with other institutions, with our state and legislators as well, just to be able to compliment this problem.

- Mary?

- I would love to hear your opinion, as a parent, Steve and I talk about this a lot as well, for parents that are out there watching that feel, I often feel so helpless.

I feel like I'm saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing.

I say, yeah, exactly.

"I can get you set up with a therapist."

"Well, I don't need a therapist."

"Well, what do you need?

Because you're not listening to me."

What advice do you- - And why aren't you opening up telling me these things?

Why do I have to ask you a million questions to find?

No, I'm sorry, go ahead.

- That's all right.

That's all right.

And there's so many parents that are out there struggling and I thought it was a struggle when the kids were younger, but now, once they are in college and even after they graduate college, what advice do you have for parents on truly how to support their kids in this challenging time?

- That's a great question, Mary.

And we speak with our parents often about this challenge.

And I think the very first thing to do is to really normalize the struggle.

You know, I think that once we share with our college students that this is normal, you know, college is going to be difficult but there are resources available on college campuses to help you.

I think that the key thing is to make sure that the students know that they're supported, that there are campus resources there to help them every step of the way.

It's really up to them to really kind of seek those resources as well.

And we do a lot of focus with our students on resiliency coping, really helping them to understand how to build confidence, how to make connections, how to build a support network, how to support and set goals, and also really prioritizing self-care.

That's really important for us too.

Really helping them to understand the growth mindset versus a fixed mindset, if you will.

- I'm gonna follow up on this, Monica.

To what degree is the challenge, not the challenges, but the challenges around mental health for college-age students a product of those students feeling they're the only one?

"I'm the only one".

- Absolutely.

If they feel alone in this, I think that it makes it harder for them to seek help early and often.

But what we're finding is that 40% of students say that their college experience, in their college experience, that they are managing various levels of stress.

- 40%?

- 40%.

- I'm sorry for interrupting, do they connect stress with anxiety?

- That's right.

- Bordering on depression?

- Not necessarily depression, but anxiety for sure.

Anxiety and stress.

So they're saying that mental health is impacting their academic achievement, for example.

- What about academic achievement, I'm sorry, but what about the challenge around achieving academically creating additional stress?

- That's right.

And they're all connected, right?

When your mental health is not at its peak, it impacts everything else.

So I think that, you know, one of the things that we really try to do is to create a community of care where students don't feel like they're alone.

At Seton Hall, we have what we call peer advisors here on campus.

And they're linked to every first year student, and that is their first friend on campus.

That's who they can go to if they have questions about what do I do if if I'm struggling in a course, how do I talk with a professor?

So just making sure that they know that they're not alone is a really big part of helping them to handle the stress.

- Monica Burnette is Vice President of Student Services at Seton Hall University.

To disclose, Seton Hall, a longtime higher ed partner of ours.

Monica, for the work that you and your colleagues do every day for our college-age students, thank you very much, we appreciate it.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- Recently on our series, Lessons in Leadership, my colleague Mary Gamba and I talked to two of our newer, they're not so new anymore, they've been with us for a while.

Delaney McGowan and Chloe Swift, they are the team.

Delaney is the senior producer of "One-on-One."

Chloe works with her as an associate producer.

We talked about what it's like to join a team remotely.

What does leadership really mean in media, especially when things are difficult and time sensitive?

Chloe and Delaney talk about these issues with Mary and I and they're not the only ones who joined a team after COVID, world of remote work and trying to all make it work together.

Check it out.

- Delaney, what has it been like forming a team, a partnership, a collaboration, particularly with Chloe, when you've only seen each other a couple of times in person, mostly remote, please?

- It was definitely different to join a team remotely, and especially in production because, you know, there are a lot of businesses that operate, you know, remotely.

But production is very much a business of people and collaboration, and it's so interesting to see this big shift in media specifically.

And it's honestly kind of amazing and the way that this production is run specifically.

Because, I mean, Steve, you're at your house, right?

And while I'm in Connecticut, Chloe's in- - Nobody's supposed to know that.

What is wrong with you, Delaney?

(women laughing) - He's kidding.

Go ahead.

Chloe's in Philly.

- Chloe's in Philly.

- I'm in an undisclosed location.

Okay, hold on.

You're in Connecticut?

- I'm in Connecticut.

- I am in an undisclosed location in Northern New Jersey.

- You're in an undisclosed location.

You're right, I apologize.

- I'm in Westfield, New Jersey.

- Mary's in Westfield, New Jersey.

I mean, so we- - Chloe's where?

- Chloe's in Pennsylvania, Philly.

- Don't tell me she's a Phillies fan?

- Steve.

(laughs) - How many times have we, oh, I actually, I know this is not relevant to this conversation, but the last time you showed your, but mine have plants in them.

- What it?

- Oh.

- Is that, oh.

- That's genius.

Steve, you should put plants in your little hats.

- No, 'cause I still put ice cream in this.

That's what I got at the stadium.

So hold on, finish your point before I go to Chloe.

Delaney.

- I was, yes?

- Has it worked?

- Yes, it has.

But that's what I was trying to say.

I was saying that I think it's very, I don't know if that would work with everyone, but I think we have a very special thing going on.

And I think that because of our small team, we do wear many hats, right?

And, you know, that's kind of the beauty of it.

And that we are very connected because we, not only because we have to be, but because of the way that, you know, we conduct the production.

- All right, Chloe, how connected do you really feel to a team that 98% of the time we look like this?

- I think I've said this to you before, which is that the work is phenomenal.

The work is 100% percent.

It's the same quality that you would have in person.

I think the only times where you're missing on remote work is that water cooler talk.

I mean, you used to work in an office in Montclair and you'd have lunch every day at 12 o'clock and you'd probably sit around a table most of the time and everyone would kind of- - Well, they never invited me, but go ahead.

Even though you're alone, do you proactively make it your business to connect with other team members?

- Yeah, depending on the day.

I mean, I think that's the beauty is that I don't have to or I can.

And if I'm not feeling up to it, I can do my work and everyone trusts me to do my work.

No one's knocking on my door, and that is really helpful sometimes.

- Yeah, what about that trust thing, Delaney?

And Delaney, another part of this, and Mary jump in here.

I don't wanna disclose too much but Delaney is also a hardworking professional mom.

The juggling, you're in Connecticut.

If we said you had to come into the office, you could not be our producer.

You just couldn't be, right?

The logistics wouldn't work from Connecticut to Northern New Jersey.

How important is the flexibility for you?

- Yeah, I mean, I think this is something that the pandemic really brought out.

You know, I mean obviously it was really an isolating time, but it also brought out, there was the whole issue, right, with moms having to leave their jobs during the pandemic because they didn't have childcare.

- Or dads, or dads, correct.

- Or dads, parents, right?

The whole struggle.

- Mostly moms.

- Mostly moms.

But, you know, I think what's come out of it now is that there is this, and while, you know, just fully disclosing, I do have childcare because you still, it's still a necessity.

You can't, I mean, look, I don't think, I don't believe that you can fully do both jobs at the same time.

But I will say it allows you to be there for certain things that you might not have been able to be there for prior to working remotely.

You know, if there's a doctor's appointment that you need to go to, or if you know your kid's sick and you need to go pick them up.

Those are things that you can now do and you have the flexibility to do it.

- Chloe, you think you're a natural born leader?

- Yes.

- Make the case.

- I think I just did everything first.

In my life, it's always been about how can I be better than the person next to me, and not in a way that's competitive but in a way that how can I strengthen my own abilities to stand out in a crowd?

And that has just stuck with me for a long time.

And so here I am.

I'm very successful 21-year-old speaking to you today.

- And very confident.

Delaney, natural born leader?

Look at you.

(everyone laughing) - How am I supposed to follow up with that?

- No, no, I know, she's a character.

- Yes.

- Okay, so when you're 15, you go, "I'm a leader.

- Me?

- Yes.

- When I'm 15?

- When you're 14, 15, 16.

I'm just asking, I'm curious about this.

Did you say, "I know I was born to be a leader"?

- No, but I don't think that that's bad.

I don't think there's anything wrong.

- I don't think it's bad at all.

- I think for me it was a slower, I'm still learning and I'm still developing, and I think there's nothing wrong with that.

You know, I was also the youngest and, oh, I don't know Chloe, where you sit, but I was the youngest, I was the baby in the family.

And, you know, I kind of was treated like the baby for, I still am.

But I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I think there's a lot to be said with, you know, letting yourself develop and grow and not always being, I don't think it's always about being so self-assured but it's also about those humble moments too.

And, you know, and allowing that growth to happen and develop.

I mean, I applied originally for the associate producer role, Steve.

Do you remember this?

And then Jackie and Jacqui and I don't know who.

- Or two executive producers.

- Right.

And then they, you know, said, "Hey, we have the senior producer.

Would you be interested?"

- The higher level.

- Right, higher level.

And, you know, I've always wanted to make that jump.

And I think it takes, you know, in this role specifically, I think, you know, during the process, I was showing myself as a leader and moving up even though I didn't so recognize it maybe at the time.

But I think now that I'm in it.

- Look at you.

- I love it.

- I'm making those steps and I'm getting there, and I think that's also part of being a leader too.

It's not always about the confidence, but it's about the, like I said, honoring the journey.

- The journey.

- Wow, look at her going deep on this.

- I love it.

- Mary, before I let these two go, our two terrific leaders who collaborate together with the rest of the team.

Mary, 30 seconds, the importance of giving honest, direct, hard-to -hear feedback to both of them and how it's impacted their growth.

- Oh, absolutely.

And we've had offline conversations over the past few months and I'll be like, "Hey, when you talk to Steve, try this instead, or in that situation, here is what we recommend that you could do differently."

And what you may not know, Jackie and Jacqui give me that same feedback as does Steve.

So we're all transparent, we're all giving that feedback.

Why?

Because we are a small team and we wanna make sure that we're constantly learning and growing.

- To Delaney and Chloe, we wanna thank you for being part of our team.

- That was Lessons in Leadership.

Delaney and Chloe talking to Mary and I about important issues of joining a team during challenging times, remote, and otherwise.

On behalf of everyone at our team, remote and then in person, I'm Steve Adubato.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The North Ward Center.

United Airlines.

IBEW Local 102.

Valley Bank.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

PSE&G.

And by EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

Promotional support provided by ROI-NJ.

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

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