Photo: Ashley Edwards and Alina Liao at UC Berkeley School of Business after winning 2nd place at the 2016 Global Social Innovation Competition.
In 2016, the 30 largest cities in the United States experienced a double-digit increase in violent crime. From reports of shootings in Chicago to gang-related violence in LA, the media is constantly flooded with stories of violence in our urban communities. The effect this has is numbing: most of the time, one doesn’t stop to think of the lives that are affected by these systemic issues.
Perhaps the most affected by these issues are youth living in these communities. In the United States today, it is estimated that one in three inner city youth has PTSD from exposure to trauma. Yet with one counselor for every 500 students in the average urban school district, most students mental health needs are being left unmet. As a result, millions of kids are being left to work through a pain that has no name.
Cofounders Ashley Edwards and Alina Liao are working on a solution to address this critical need for mental health support in schools. Together, they built MindRight, a tech nonprofit that provides personalized mental health coaching over text message to teens. MindRight is empowering youth of color to heal from trauma from systemic oppression, including poverty, violence, racism, and discrimination.
They work with school districts, government agencies, and community-based organizations to provide their service to students. For students that have opted in, they send them daily text messages to check in on how they are doing, drawing from evidence-based practices including trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), mindfulness, and positive psychology. “We started Mindright to address this critical service gap in schools, meeting kids where they are, and making mental health support accessible by using technology,” Edwards explains.
So far, the MindRight team has been recognized with awards from Camelback Ventures, the 4.0 Schools Tiny Fellowship, the Halcyon Incubator, and the Fast Forward Accelerator. They were also a winner in the 2016 Global Social Venture Competition.
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Read the entire article by Alana Matos from 8/31/2017 here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/a...a-time/#5defef56525c
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