NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union remarks about the national mental health crisis laying out a plan to transform how mental health is understood, perceived, accessed, and treated, MTV Entertainment Group today announced its inaugural cohort of 30 young mental health content creators and activists who will participate in the Mental Health Youth Action Forum held in coordination with the Biden-Harris Administration set to take place in May.
MTV Entertainment Group, along with 18 leading mental health non-profits, previously announced that they will host the first-ever convening to empower young people to drive action on mental health through storytelling and media. Senior officials from the Biden-Harris Administration, including from the Department of Health and Human Services, are expected to speak at the Forum, which will culminate with a White House event.
Prior to the Forum, participants will engage in a six-week facilitated program to define a mental health problem prevalent in their communities and work in groups to develop a creative campaign that will inspire their peers to take action to support their own or a friend's mental health. Following the 6-week program, participants will present their ideas at a White House event to a diverse audience of media and technology professionals, government officials, and non-profit executives to help inform future creative public health campaigns related to mental health.
Together, their ideas will be the basis for creative content such as PSAs, podcasts, and digital art focused on improving the mental health of historically marginalized communities. Campaigns will be launched nationwide before the end of the year in partnership with leading media and entertainment brands who will amplify and/or co-develop the creative campaigns coming out of the Forum.
From the hundreds of applications received, these young people stood out for their commitment to mental health activism, their digital and creative skill sets, and their deep appreciation for the possibilities this exciting opportunity will bring. Youth participants include:
Adia Fadaei, Los Angeles, CA, Age 19 |
Justine Bautista, Irvine, CA, Age 23 |
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Aidan Hallinan, San Diego, CA, Age 18 |
Keely Cat-Wells, Los Angeles, CA, Age 25 |
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Alex Ang, Saint Paul, Minnesota, Age 21 |
Kheira Bekkadja, Alexandria, VA, Age 18 |
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Ayanna Kelly, Woodbridge, VA, Age 27 |
Maddox Guerilla, Bronx, NY, Age 25 |
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Bhavya Rai, Cary, NC, Age 24 |
Mahmoud Khedr, New York, NY, Age 25 |
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Carla Ibarra, Los Angeles, CA, Age 26 |
Marcus Alston, Baltimore, MD, Age 26 |
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Carmel Alshaibi, New Haven, CT, Age 20 |
Meera Varma, Burbank, CA, Age 21 |
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Cynthia Yue, Washington, D.C., Age 21 |
Nancy Su, Chapel Hill, NC, Age 28 |
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Danielle Boyer, Troy, MI, Age 21 |
Sophie Szew, Los Angeles, CA, Age 19 |
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Davida Padi, Parsippany, NJ, Age 19 |
Sreeya Pittala, Newark, DE, Age 18 |
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Dayna Altman, Boston, MA, Age 29 |
Theadora Touchton, Los Angeles, CA, Age 26 |
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Diana Chao, Claremont, CA, Age 23 |
Uele Boxill, Columbus, OH, Age 26 |
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Jazmine Wildcat, Riverton, WY, Age 18 |
Victoria Makanjuola, Plano, TX, Age 24 |
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Jorge Alvarez, Elmwood Park, NJ, Age 23 |
Zane Landin, Chino, CA, Age 24 |
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Juan Acosta, Woodland, CA, Age 24 |
Zoë Cain, Los Angeles, CA, Age 24 | |
For more information on the participants, go here. Previously announced non-profit partners include: |
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The AAKOMA Project |
National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network |
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Active Minds |
Poderistas |
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Asian Mental Health Collective |
Rare Impact Fund by Rare Beauty |
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Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation |
Student Veterans of America |
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Born This Way Foundation |
Trans Lifeline |
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Bring Change to Mind |
The Trevor Project |
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The Jed Foundation |
The Upswing Fund for Adolescent Mental Health |
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Mental Wealth Alliance |
Vibrant Emotional Health |
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NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) |
We R Native |
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Over the past two decades, mental health struggles have risen dramatically, especially among young adults. Accelerated by the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial injustices and trauma of the last year, the mental health crisis has been called a “second pandemic” by some experts. Although mental health awareness has increased, young people still face barriers in taking actions to support their own or their loved ones’ emotional wellbeing. In response, MTV Entertainment Group is working to engage young people from across the United States to employ their creative expertise and direct knowledge of their peers to help drive their communities to take mental health actions.
Leveraging its decades-long history of sparking conversations about mental health, in April 2021 MTV Entertainment Group launched Mental Health is Health, a multi-year initiative to tackle the nation’s growing health crisis by harnessing the power of storytelling to normalize mental health conversations and inspire action. MTVE convened a coalition of entertainment media companies and mental health experts for the Better Together Mental Health Storytelling Summit and unveiled The Mental Health Media Guide, a first-of-its-kind comprehensive resource for content creators designed to elevate storytelling opportunities that can change the narrative on mental health. Building on its legacy of bringing companies and organizations together to create social change, MTVE spearheaded Mental Health Action Day, an open-source global movement to shift culture from awareness to action. More than 1,400 organizations, brands, government agencies and cultural leaders participated in the inaugural event, which focused on driving people to get the mental health support they need.
