California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom on promoting youth mental health

Documentary filmmaker and actor Jennifer Siebel Newsom made the mental health of children and teenagers her number one priority when her husband, Gavin Newsom, became governor of the US state of California in 2019, and it was also the subject that brought her to Greece recently, to speak at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation's Nostos conference.

Another important initiative she undertook was to shed the title of "first lady" traditionally held by the wives of American presidents and governors in favor of the gender neutral "first partner."

"I had this idea to coin the term 'first partner,' knowing that there will be a female governor soon, and knowing that there will be an LGBTQ+ governor, and trying to sort of symbolically suggest what's possible in both of those future opportunities," Siebel Newsom told Kathimerini, though she adds that this was not the only reason.