Welcoming the New Year: A Message from ISSBD President, Tina Malti.

January 1, 2025

Dear ISSBD Members,

I wish you a joyous and peaceful New Year.

This past year has been filled with disagreement, conflict, and violence—values of caring and justice have been shaken. We are all learning to navigate a new world, and I have come to understand that it is our choice to adopt a different stance, one that spreads kindness and justice in ways we would like to be treated. Every day, every moment we find the courage and energy to care like this, we can trust that our fellow citizens will help us through moments where we cannot find the strength.

In this new year, the ISSBD will continue to serve as a truly international organization that brings together diverse voices and developmental perspectives in a science that cares. We will continue to build bridges, unite diverse scholars, and nurture regional and global research-practice alliances. We will demonstrate our capacity to explore new territory with rigor and compassion, to equip humans and environments with the knowledge they need to live together and to demonstrate the beauty of sharing life with other beings and nature in harmony.

Your scholarship, unwavering support, and dedication to the ISSBD are the pillars of our community and our contributions to science and society, and we will continue to bring together our old and new members at our regional workshops. With the generous support of our funders, we have also created new research and networking grant opportunities for our members in 2025. With the trust and support of our growing network of collaborating organisations, your important research will be seen around the world, including by those who need it most.

Our committees have actively shaped our mission and contributed to our goals. For example, the Membership Committee has grown our pool of regional representatives, and I am delighted to share that we have now 33 regional representatives on 6 continents, who generously dedicate their time and expertise to growing regional capacity in developmental science and its applications to nurture positive human development across the lifespan. The ISSBD global policy committee has enthusiastically began their work, launching two Bulletin Issues on the topic of poverty. I wish to thank all committee members wholeheartedly for their incredible commitment and work.

As the world continues to show disarray, fear, and chaos, our togetherness is what will create space for creativity, meaning, and hope. Let us look for more opportunities to build

stronger bridges, foster mutual understanding and respect and advance the search for human potential, peace, and an empathic global community.

With gratitude and joy, I extend my warmest wishes to you and your loved ones. Thank you for being a part of our community. I wish you inner peace for this new year, and I look forward to connecting with you.

Warmest wishes,

Tina Malti, President of ISSBD