Alex Muir: “I Feel Excited and Energized”

Alex Muir is no stranger to behavioral health solutions. The BYU grad started her career conducting electroencephalogram and magnetic resonance imaging studies to understand serious mental illness. Next, she started publishing independent research on the behavioral health tech industry. And now, Alex is in business school at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, hoping to produce content that can help others who are interested in the space understand the landscape. 

“The best part of the BHT conference was that I was able to meet all sorts of individuals! There were investors, operators, people running nonprofits, etc.,” Alex shares. She adds that she was most excited to meet folks who are investing in the space: “I wanted to understand what trends they are seeing in the market and how they are evaluating new companies entering a typically crowded market.”

For Alex, who wants to land a job in the behavioral health tech space, understanding various areas of the market is a priority. And BHT2024 was the perfect avenue to do exactly that. 

“The biggest takeaway I had from BHT2024 was that to truly make progress in the field we need robust partnerships between public and private entities. I was so excited to see all of the partnerships that are already in place… to bring comprehensive solutions to market, [and] I feel so excited and energized to continue my own work.”

Anika Nayak: “Inspiring Space of Changemakers”

Mental health advocate and storyteller Anika Nayak, who holds a BA in public health from the University of California Berkeley, has an impressive list of journalistic bylines that includes STAT, TIME, HuffPost, Insider, Teen Vogue, and other outlets. This made her the perfect candidate to be a 2023 BHT Young Innovator in Behavioral Health awardee recognized for her work destigmatizing mental illness through evidence-based journalism.

“This year, I was thrilled to be invited by BHT to serve as a Youth Advisor and attend this year’s insightful conference in-person for the second time,” Anika says.

If she could describe BHT2024 in one word, it would be “magical.”

“[The conference] was an inspiring space of changemakers who are committed to making a positive change in the field of behavioral health. It covered so many topics under the wider umbrella of behavioral health. By attending sessions, I felt like I was able to be exposed to so many topics on my ‘bucket list’ of things I wanted to learn about or explore.”

She specifically notes the “Behavioral Health Innovations in Tribal Communities – Healing Systems With Indigenous Values” panel with speakers Britteny Matero, Ashly Taylor, Raquel Ramos, and Don Ramos, describing it as “insightful.” 

Overall, Anika says, attending the Behavioral Health Tech conference has not only broadened her knowledge, but has also inspired her to take action to create change.

“By understanding the different types of work and methods of action to improve access to mental health services, I am driven to start my own storytelling project fueled by these evidence-based solutions. I recently received a grant to create a project on youth mental health. Over the next year, I will be focusing on how young people are thoughtfully responding to their peers in crisis, and what’s working to help them access safe and timely care.”

Guiying (Angel) Zhong: “Highly Supportive of My Goals”

Guiying (Angel) Zhong is a youth mental health advocate and scholar-activist who stays very busy with her work. Currently, Angel is a pre-doctoral Junior Professional Researcher at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, where she’s working on an intervention titled Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES). She’s also involved in the Mental Health Literacy Collaborative’s Young Adult Advocacy Council, the Youth MOVE National Board of Directors, the National Institute of Mental Health Public Reviewer Program, and the Active Minds Trailblazer Network for youth mental health advocates. And Angel describes the environment at BHT2024 as “highly supportive” of her goals.

“I found the panel topics to be relevant and pertinent to my work as a young leader in mental health. The insights I gained from the sessions and the opportunities for networking were particularly valuable,” she says.

With her background in academia, Angel was especially excited about connecting with policy experts and social entrepreneurs. She also mentions the session on maternal mental health as being the perfect way to set the tone for everything she learned during the conference. 

“The panel was a multi-sector group of incredible women working to advance mental health through policy, research, and clinical innovations. I was struck by their focus on relational health… in other words, our health can’t be detached from the health of our loved ones, of our community, and society as a whole.”

While Angel admitted the conference environment sometimes felt overwhelming for an introvert such as herself, the friendliness of other attendees encouraged her to step outside of her comfort zone and engage in conversation and informal networking. 

“I returned home feeling inspired and excited about continuing my work, armed with new insights and a broader perspective on the mental/behavioral health space.”

Mitchell Kabenda: “Exactly What I Needed”

For Mitchell Kabenda, who was both a Behavioral Health Tech Youth Advisor and a Behavioral Health Tech Young Innovator Awardee for 2024, the conference was a “transformative experience.” Mitchell works as a Behavioral Health Counselor in an inpatient pediatric unit. She’s pursuing a second bachelor’s degree, studying computer engineering at Iowa State University. And simultaneously, Mitchell serves as a Digital Mental Health Ambassador at Neolth — while also looking ahead to begin creating culturally relevant mental health resources for youth in communities of color in the near future. 

“It can be challenging when your interests span multiple fields — behavioral health, technology, and youth advocacy — but the conference reminded me that there’s a space for work like mine,” Mitchell says. 

Her path may be nontraditional. But it boosted her confidence to meet other driven, talented young adults who are also determinedly pursuing their own unique paths — all on the way to collectively creating something powerful.  

“What struck me most was the sense of shared purpose. Every conversation felt genuine and supportive, whether we were discussing our current work, our aspirations, or the steps we’re taking to get there.”

Connecting with senior professionals was a highlight, too. Hearing their perspectives on how the industry has evolved gave Mitchell a clearer vision of where she might fit within this growing field. And learning how others started their careers showed her that there’s no one “right” way to begin. 

“BHT2024 gave me exactly what I needed to feel supported in my goals,” Mitchell summarizes. “Being surrounded by so many people pursuing meaningful work in their own unique ways reminded me that there’s nothing wrong with engineering and designing my own path forward. I left feeling motivated to keep learning, growing, and contributing to something that matters.”

Seika Brown: “A Shared Hope”

Seika Brown is a recent Cornell University grad with a bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Studies and a minor in anthropology. Now, she’s a Master’s in Public Health Candidate at the Tufts University School of Medicine. Seika is a Research Associate at the Institute of Community Health and runs an initiative researching the intersection of mental health and culture. 

What was her experience at BHT2024? To Seika, the atmosphere felt vibrant and collaborative.

“Every attendee brought passion and purpose. It felt like a space where everyone was not only eager to learn but also driven to contribute.”

Seika learned a lot through the formal workshops, panels, and sessions, particularly those that were based around public health evaluation or maternal health. But she also remarks how BHT did an excellent job of creating “third spaces” amid the bustle of activities — areas where people could pause together to process their experience and share insights.

“For me, the heart of BHT2024 was the way it brought people together to learn from one another, united by a shared hope for a more connected future in healthtech.”

Seika went home with not only new tools and ideas, but also a renewed sense of purpose. She feels more passionate than ever to “continue building a global conversation on mental health and culture that is rooted in connection and humanity.”

Zoe Tait: “Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity”

BHT2024 was right down Zoe Tait’s alley. Zoe works as a Business Operations and Strategy Specialist at a mental health AI tech startup called Jimini Health. She has a BS in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in Spanish Language Studies from the University of California, San Diego. And during her final year of college, Zoe completed and presented her Psychology Honors Thesis titled “The Naturalistic Uses of Large Language Models (LLMs) for Mental Health” through Stanford’s Computational Psychology and Well-Being Lab.

“BHT2024 was a unique experience because you rarely have the opportunity to have such a diverse offering of so many different sessions tangential to healthcare and technology at your fingertips,” Zoe says.

The exhibition hall was a particular highlight — she appreciates how company reps were very open to conversations about the field of behavioral health and different career paths that might be viable opportunities. 

“I was very excited to have the opportunity to interact with a broad set of stakeholders, especially at such an early career stage. I had the opportunity to meet those with expertise across various fields, from founders to technologists to investors… [which] allowed me to dive deeper into my broad interests and get a better sense of what my future career could hold.”

Zoe feels that gaining so many different perspectives at such an early career stage was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The conference helped her feel energized about the future of healthcare and the potential partnerships she might experience. As events like BHT become more accessible and well-known, she thinks, they’ll be game-changers in growing the next generation of leaders across behavioral health and technology. 

In the end, as Zoe reflects on her overall BHT experience, she says she’s perhaps most grateful for this: “I feel empowered to face the behavioral health tech field.” ‍

Want to experience this vibrant, energetic environment that our Youth Advisors talked about for yourself? Save the date for the next Behavioral Health Tech conference, happening November 11th-13th, 2025, in San Diego, California.