Speakers & Presenters

Our 2026 lineup brings together storytellers, creatives, and the young leaders shaping the future of mental health. Meet the people taking the stage.

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Keynote Presentation

A live recording of the She Persisted podcast, hosted by Sadie Sutton with guest Hailey Hardcastle.

Sadie Sutton holding a microphone with a sticker that says, "She Persisted"

Sadie Sutton

Sadie Sutton (she/her) is the 23-year-old founder and host of She Persisted, a top-charting Gen Z mental health podcast with more than 450,000 downloads across 250+ episodes. After spending a year and a half in intensive treatment for severe depression and anxiety as a teenager, she launched the podcast to create the kind of resource she wished she had during her own recovery.

A recent psychology graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (where Active Minds was founded!) and current Research Coordinator in the Duckworth Lab, Sadie is passionate about translating mental health research through education and science communication to address the Gen Z mental health crisis. Her work has been featured by The New York Times, NBC, Today.com, and other national media outlets.

Hailey Hardcastle

Hailey Hardcastle

Hailey Hardcastle (she/her) is a Gen-Z mental health advocate whose work is transforming how we approach youth and young adult mental health well-being. Drawing on her live experiences and expertise in grassroots organizing, Hailey has become a leading voice in the movement for improved mental health resources in schools.

At the forefront of her advocacy is her role in passing a landmark law in Oregon, which allows students to take mental health days off from school. This pioneering legislation has since inspired similar policies in 12 states (and growing) across the U.S. In recognition of this work, Hailey was named by Teen Vogue as one of the “21 Under 21 Young Women Changing the World.” Her TED Talk, “Why Students Should Have Mental Health Days,” has garnered over 4 million views, amplifying her message to a global audience.

She now works for a national youth-serving nonprofit. She is dedicated to shaping the future of mental health advocacy and inspiring others to join her in making a difference.

Panelists

Our panel, “Built For This: The Advocacy Pipeline from School Passion to National Impact”, will showcase the intentional journey Active Minds creates for young leaders.

Brandon Bond

Brandon Bond (moderator)

Brandon Bond (he/him) is the Director of People & Organizational Well-Being at Garrett’s Space, a young adult suicide prevention nonprofit. With a background in public health and social work, he focuses on multicultural wellness, nonclinical therapeutic support, and public mental health advocacy.

Active Minds has been central to his advocacy journey, from participating in their Emerging Scholars Program, where he created an integrative wellness pop-up barbershop, to serving on the Active Minds x MTV Entertainment Youth Advisory Board that launched the A.S.K. Acknowledge, Support, Keep-in-Touch campaign. His leadership has expanded nationally as an inaugural Youth Advocate in Mental Health America’s Youth Policy Accelerator and locally through his appointment as one of the youngest Human Rights Commissioners in Ann Arbor’s history.

He continues his policy work with RESULTS, advocating for poverty alleviation and global health protections, and serves as a Global Youth Advisor with OK Today, a youth-driven collective working to transform how the world understands and talks about mental health.

Bria Murphy

Bria Murphy (panelist)

Bria Murphy (she/her) is an Alumna of the University of Houston (UH) graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, while minoring in Health. As the reigning Miss Celina in the Miss America Opportunity, Bria is a servant in her community using her community service initiative “Do More, Be More” to empower youth to use their adversity to aim higher than the limitations of society.

Passionate about mental health advocacy, her podcast “Chai with Bria” is dedicated to featuring stories of adversity overcomers. As a member of the Active Minds Advocacy Institute, Bria recently developed “Project Zen UH” to promote social connectedness at her university by revamping older spaces into relaxing environments for students on her culturally diverse campus. Through her involvement in Active Minds, Bria has been able to start a larger conversation about the different approaches to tackle mental health.

Rohan Satija

Rohan Satija (panelist)

Rohan Satija (he/him) is a first-year student at the University of Texas at Austin pursuing a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Plan II Honors. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of Let’s Learn Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has distributed over 75,000 books and 5,000 mental-health kits to more than 13,000 underserved students across Texas.

Rohan was selected for the Active Minds’ Mental Health Advocacy Academy in the summer of 2024. Through the Academy, he developed a strategic advocacy plan centered on scaling the Vibrant Voices Project, a program he founded that uses mental health monologue-writing workshops to support youth in juvenile detention. Rohan has led the expansion of Vibrant Voices to five Texas counties and training for youth facilitators to lead peer-to-peer delivery.

Jodi Johnson

Jodi Johnson (panelist)

Jodi Johnson (he/him) began his journey with Active Minds in January 2024 as a member of the Emerging Scholars Fellowship. Through this experience, he developed “Brother, You’re Not Alone,” a project addressing the gap in mental health treatment among Black, African, and Caribbean American men, with a focus on the need for increased preventative support. As part of this work, Jodi founded a men’s support group on my campus, creating space for deeper connection and dialogue around the challenges facing men of color.

After completing the fellowship, Jodi merged his passion for athletics with advocacy by joining Team Active Minds, fundraising through distance running. To date, he has raised over $3,500 while completing the Philadelphia Marathon twice and traveling internationally to run the Berlin Marathon. Jodi remains committed to advancing mental health awareness and support through both community-building and endurance athletics.

Varsha Penumalee

Varsha Penumalee (panelist)

Varsha Penumalee (she/her) is a national youth mental health advocate, researcher, and student leader at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she studies biology with minors in chemistry, Spanish, and pre-medicine. Her journey with Active Minds began on her campus, where she serves as President of her chapter. She has worked to create a culture of openness around mental health through programming, peer support, and community engagement. She also serves on the Active Minds Student Advisory Committee, where she helps shape national initiatives, leads Chapter Chats on topics like policy and engagement, and contributes to large-scale advocacy efforts including Hill Day programming.

In parallel, Varsha is the President of NAMI Virginia NextGen and Secretary of Youth MOVE National, where she advances youth-driven mental health policy, outreach, and peer support initiatives on the state and national levels. Her advocacy is deeply informed by her lived experiences and her commitment to addressing health inequities, particularly for marginalized communities. Through her writing, public speaking, and leadership, Varsha works to de-stigmatize mental health and empower young people to use their voices to drive systemic change.

Live Experiences

Be Steadwell, queer pop composer and author, holding a microphone

Be Steadwell (Musician)

Be Steadwell (they/them/Be) is a queer pop composer and author from Washington D.C. Be’s goal as an artist is to write love stories centering Black girlies, introverts, and weirdos.

Be earned a BA in Black Studies from Oberlin College and an MFA in film from Howard University. Be’s short films Vow of Silence and Black Tea (2025) screened in film festivals around the world. In 2021, Be released their pop and R&B album — Succulent.

Be released their debut romance novel Chocolate Chip City in 2025. Be currently lives in Baltimore. They tour their music and work as an adjunct lecturer at Howard University.

Find out more about Be on their website.

 

Artist and advocate, Isabella Constantino, poses with rolled prints of her artworks

Isabella Constantino (Live Artist)

Isabella Constantino (she/her) is an artist, advocate, and small business owner based in Buffalo, New York.

As she has navigated adulthood and neurological differences, the visual and performing arts have been a source of comfort and expression, offering space to heal and grow. Through her work, Isabella hopes to evoke a sense of wonder, curiosity and self-reflection.

Isabella is the founder of Art for a Cause, an advocacy-driven merchandise line designed to spark conversation and visibility around Tourette Syndrome, OCD, and mental health. This line aims to encourage empathy, open-mindedness and compassion, and challenge misconceptions around neurodiversity and mental health.

Find out more about Isabella on her website.