Student Spotlight: Two DMD Students Selected for 2026 ADEA Student Leaders for Social Change Program
Mary Catherine Carroll DMD 27 and MarKee Weaver DMD 27 were accepted into the 2026 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Student Leaders for Social Change program, joining a cohort of predoctoral and allied dental students from the United States and Canada.
The six-month program is designed to expose oral health student leaders to leadership theories and strategies for improving access to and quality of oral health care and provide network opportunities with peers and professionals, according to the ADEA website. The program starts and ends with in-person events, one in Montréal, Canada, prior to the 2026 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition, in March, and another at the ADEA headquarters in Washington, D.C. in August. Students will also complete virtual sessions and online modules. (This is a new model for the program, which was previously held as a singular day-and-half long event during the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition.)
Weaver, current president of the GSDM Student National Dental Association chapter, said the extended program will give cohort members more time to hone their skills and work together.
“With everyone [coming from] their respective regional area, they have their own difficulties or things that they would like to advocate for,” Weaver said. “[I am excited] to be in that think tank with people from so many different backgrounds and regions can really help us expand our horizons, outlooks and perspectives on being leaders in oral health.”
Carroll, current president of GSDM’s Society for Queers & Allies in Dentistry (SQuAD), agreed with Weaver, adding the program expansion is beneficial is providing oral health students with more educational resources on social change. She said that she is looking forward to the mentorship opportunities and working with a group of people who have a shared goal of social change.
“Institutional change in oral health begins with education,” Carroll said. “This is a program that is helping us understand and reimagine the systems that we are inheriting right now. [This will] potentially improve our education and come back to school with ideas that can help us and potentially GSDM move into the future.”