2024 Young Innovators in Behavioral Health Awards

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Behavioral Health Tech, Hopelab, Pivotal, Resonance Philanthropies, and Manatt are thrilled to co-present the 2024 Young Innovators in Behavioral Health Awards.This program recognizes the vital contributions of young visionaries—ranging from students to clinical researchers and tech entrepreneurs—in shaping a future where everyone, particularly young people, can access essential digital mental health resources and feel truly supported. Young people are proactive and innovative in addressing mental health challenges and their efforts are driving transformative change in digital mental health.

Our Awardees:

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Audrey Wang (she/her)

Founder of Affective Cookies, youth advisor at Born This Way Foundation and GoodforMEdia

Carissa Parsons (she/her)

Mental health advocate enhancing Nevada Teen Peer Support Text Line

Gloria Umanah

Founder and CEO of mental health nonprofit Hope Booth

Justine Bautista (she/her)

Ph.D. student at UC Irvine, developing tech for marginalized communities

Nita Akoh (she/her)

Founder and CEO of MyAtlas, a pioneering digital health platform

RESEARCH AND ACADEMIA

Angela Li-Mei Yong (she/her)

CEO and Co-Founder of Soulsync, an online platform for Asian American health and well-being

Demond Hill

PH.D: Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Comparative Human Development/D.I.C.E lab at the University of Chicago

Finneas Wong (he/him)

Mental health researcher and activist for trans and nonbinary Asian teens, a contributor to the Boba Project

Riya Dave (she/her)

Fulbright Scholar and NIH researcher, created India’s first mental health app for orphan girls

Tabor Hoatson (he/him)

Advancing sobriety and mental health treatments for LGBTQAI+

MEDIA AND INFLUENCERS

Alexandria Ang (she/her)

Launching Mental Health Mailboxes and hosts the "A is for Anxious" podcast

Diana Chao (she/they)

Founder of Letters to Strangers, focused on destigmatizing mental illness

Francesca Reicherter (she/her)

Founder of Inspiring My Generation, leading suicide prevention

Gael Aitor

Co-founder of Astro Studios, founder of Teenager Therapy podcast

Juan Acosta (he/him)

Mental Health + LGBTQ Activist , Speaker and content creator

ARTS AND ACTIVISM

Alejandra Gomez

Mental health and policy activist, Led Sonoma County's 100-Day Challenge

Andre Simms

Founder of DayOneNotDayTwo, leads youth events and art workshops in jails

Naomi Cruz Ojeda (she/her/ella)

Policy fellow at Young Invincibles and mental health advocate

Saanvi Arora

Co-founder and Executive Director of the Youth Power Project

Trace Terrell (he/him)

Mental health advocate and serves on advisory boards for MHA and NAMI

ENTREPRENEUR

Gun Young Lim (he/him)

Co-founder of Sol Health, helping therapists-in-training accrue clinical hours by offering personalized therapy to Gen Z

Magda Wojtara (she/her)

MD Candidate UCLA DGSOM and founder General Intelligences

Patrick Gilligan

Founder of Somethings, using certified peer specialist mentors to provide more engaging care to teenagers at scale

Rick Yang (he/him)

Directed SchoolSight and founded Frontiers of Fulfillment

Tessa Zimmerman (she/her)

Founder and Executive Director of Upstream Education

CLINICAL SERVICES

Alyssa Garza

PLPC for Veterans Transitional Living Program and Founded Active Minds at LSUS

Jasper Ho (he/him)

Developed Transcend curriculum, supporting LGBTQ+ youth as a trans-Asian

Karrington Hendrix (she/her)

Founded Stigma Free, providing free mental health care to students

Micah Reyes (he/him)

Uplifts women and LGBTQ+ youth in recovery at NewPerspective Sober Living

Mitchell Kabenda (she/her)

Mental health advocate, behavioral health counselor at UnityPoint Health, aspiring professional in digital health & technology