Active Minds is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization promoting mental health awareness and education for young adults.
Active Minds is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization promoting mental health awareness and education for young adults.
Yusuf Omar is a multi-award winning journalist and co-founder of Hashtag Our Stories, a TEDx speaker, and former CNN Senior Social Media Reporter on Snapchat. He has been a foreign correspondent with just his phone since 2010 and covered the Syrian civil war.
At Hashtag Our Stories, he’s empowering mobile video storytelling communities around the world. Yusuf also serves as a coach for Snapchat’s Club Unity, a board of young leaders that unites today’s leading actors, dancers, singers, and athletes to support Gen Z voices. Together with Active Minds and Snapchat, Yusuf and the other members of Club Unity recently launched Here For You, an in-app mental health resource hub that addresses ways Snapchatters can start tough conversations with friends.
We know that human connection is one of the most important elements in nurturing our mental wellbeing. However, knowing when we need help and reaching out for support can be an insurmountable barrier when we are struggling. Tech entrepreneur Obi Felten founded Flourish Labs to create myala – a self-tracking app for the mind that helps you understand the ups and downs of your mind and connects you to peer supporters. Active Minds members are playing an active role testing the app and giving feedback to improve it. Join us for a glimpse into this project’s vision of how we can use technology to positively support self-awareness and human connection, and how we’re designing with students for students.
Presenter: Obi Felten (Flourish Labs)
Sponsored By: The James Kirk Bernard Foundation (JKBF)
There are many opportunities to implement data-informed decisions to improve mental health. But with limited resources, schools, colleges and universities, and workplaces may find it challenging to know what to collect, how to collect it, and how to use those findings. Join thought leaders and researchers for this panel on how to use data to improve the mental health of individuals you serve.
Presenters: Gayle Simon (Scripps), Holly A. Garriock, Ph.D. (National Institutes of Health), Keygan Miller (The Trevor Project), Seli Fakorzi (TimelyMD), and Erin McClintock (BetterUp)
Sponsored By: TimelyMD
Best for: Higher education professionals, students, young adults
Students are sharing that they are hurting from racial trauma and it is incumbent upon higher education to listen and attend to these racial traumas when considering how to create an optimal college experience for BIPOC students. Racial trauma-informed leadership prioritizes listening, demonstrates empathy towards injustices and inequalities, and creates and adapts resources that respond to their mental health needs. The panel will present the state of mental health for BIPOC students while sharing applications of empirically-developed institutional change interventions.
Presenters: David P. Rivera, Ph.D. (Queens College-CUNY), Jan Collins-Eaglin, Ph.D. (The Steve Fund), and Cirleen DeBlaere, Ph.D. (Georgia State University)
Best for: Students, young adults, higher education professionals
Advocating for change around mental health requires meaningful involvement of the people who the change seeks to serve. Join us for a conversation about advocating for change through representation, storytelling, and accessible resources. The session will unveil a new advocacy tool created by the National Advisory Board that empowers users to advocate for the change they’d like to see.
Presenters: Carissa Samuels (Student), Rachel Cohen (Student), Rachel Nielsen (Actress), Kelly Maguire (Student), Alexandra Salazar (Student), and Cameron Vigil (Young Invincibles)
Best for: Educators, parents, working professionals, employers, supervisors, HR professionals, mental health professionals
Stressed about how to be supportive and understanding while having tough conversations? Dive into Active Minds’ active listening tool, V-A-R® (Validate, Appreciate, Refer), and prepare for the challenges facing educators and professionals related to mental health. V-A-R trainer and City Year/Americorps manager Anthony Lawrence will help you understand V-A-R as a strategy for supporting mental health and examine ways to use V-A-R in school and work conversations.
Presenter: Anthony Lawrence (City Year Cleveland)
Best for: High school students, chapter advisors, counselors, K-12 professionals, higher education professionals
Join a panel of undergraduate and high school students, and a high school counselor to discuss the lessons they have learned about the transition from high school to college thanks to their involvement in Active Minds and mental health advocacy.
Presenters: Diego Estrada (The John Cooper School), Zoe Tait (Student), Walker Nichols (Student), Rushika Prasad (Student)
The words, expressions, and phrases we use daily can impact our mental health, the mental health of others, and how we talk about mental health. When we stop and think about the language we use, we can help make our communities a better place, especially for BIPOC individuals and/or those with marginalized identities. During this session, we will unpack microaggressions and ways we can all reduce stigma and increase trust and support in conversations about mental health.
Presenters: Lauren Cikara (Active Minds) and Tanya Bass, Ph.D. (Active Minds)