Ashley Edwards knew as a teenager that she wanted to make an impact on the world.
The 27-year-old started doing social justice work at the age of 14 and was fully steeped in it by the time she reached college. And after Edwards met Alina Liao at Stanford Business School, her passion for helping teens achieve social justice for themselves turned into a business.
The women created MindRight, a nonprofit that provides coaching and support for teens via text messaging. It is currently operating in New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
MindRight also provides schools with real-time data that show just what areas of support teens and students need. One school, for instance, launched weekly support groups for immigrant students after administrators discovered they were suffering high rates of loneliness through the platform’s data.
“MindRight meets students where they are — on their phones — and gives youth of color the opportunity to heal from trauma as a result of systemic oppression like poverty, violence, discrimination and racism,” Edwards said.
She points to one teenage student who served time in an adult prison. That experience rippled through his life even after he got out: He now has no contact with his family, isn’t in school, has been homeless and is having a hard time finding and keeping a job because of his record.
“Throughout the past couple years, he has been abandoned by most people who have been in his life, but he discovered MindRight and we've been with him, texting him daily support throughout all of these experiences,” Edwards said. “He's told us we are the only people in his life who have not left him.”
Perhaps texting has never had more impact.
To read more of Cole Haan's article, please click here.
Comments (0)