I hope that, in my lifetime, mental health issues are as widely discussed, understood, and respected as issues of mental health. I truly want to see that people who live with mental health issues feel 100% comfortable talking about what they are going through no person EVER believes that suicide is the only way to end the pain.
I am founder and Executive Director of Active Minds, Inc., the leading voice in college student mental health.
In 2001, while a junior at the University of Pennsylvania and one year after losing my college-aged brother Brian to suicide, I created a student-run mental health awareness group on my campus. Upon graduating, I grew that student group into a nonprofit organization with now more than 200 chapters on college campuses throughout North America, which have earned me national recognition and acclaim. I am proud of my work with Active Minds, and of all of the students and supporters who have made the Active Minds mission - changing the conversation about mental health - their personal mission as well.
