Most of us share similar anxiety-inducing memories of middle and high school — a final exam, building up the nerve to talk to a crush, a presentation. Mine was getting called out during an assembly to sing in front of the entire middle school, which I don’t recommend for someone with stage fright and a voice like mine.   

These stressful memories often stick with us far more than the countless ways schools and educators care and prepare us for adult life. For many people, school is a refuge, a community hub, a place of identity formation, and an environment with caring adults. Despite all we already ask of our K-12 education system, it’s clear why we are calling on schools and educators to help address youth mental health.  

As the demand for student well-being support skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, mental healthcare solutions shifted towards accessible options for reaching young people where they spend most of their time. Schools were a logical destination. They provided access to students with acute needs and an opportunity to provide preventative care to everyone else. However, the infrastructure to deliver a massive mental healthcare intervention didn’t exist. Not in schools. And frankly, nowhere. 

Headstream has focused on solving that challenge. 

To effectively utilize K-12 schools to address youth mental health, which is logical if we want to reach systemically excluded populations, three core components need action:

• Innovate solutions that support under-resourced districts, educators, and in-school care providers to deliver culturally competent, age-appropriate, and evidence-based mental well-being care. 
• Develop infrastructure that equips our education system with the knowledge and resources to take on this national healthcare intervention. 
• Frequently seek student input to ensure that the mental well-being solutions schools utilize meet student needs.  

The percentage of high school students persistently feeling sad and hopeless rose from 30% to 40% over the last decade (CDC, 2024). Schools are on the front lines of the youth mental health crisis, often serving as the primary source of support for students, especially when students aren’t receiving support from their families. According to the Youth Mental Health Tracker, a study released by Surgo Health, a quarter of young people ages 10-24 said they did not feel supported by their families (YMHT, 2024). 

When young people lack mental health support, it impacts every aspect of their lives — from grades and self-esteem to friendships and future potential. We should be focused on the immediate health needs of millions of teens while also considering the long-term impact of not addressing the mental well-being of all young people. A recent study led by Nathanial Counts at the Kennedy Forum estimates that focusing on early mental health intervention could generate an additional $52B in federal budget benefits over the next ten years (PLoS Medicine, 2025). Fortunately, there are a lot of untapped approaches and interventions that can address these short and long-term challenges. 

Headstream sees this as a challenge and a powerful opportunity. 

Siloed solutions won’t cut it – Headstream is leading a collaborative approach that connects impactful technology, informed by young people, with the schools and educators who provide care for students. 

Technology can be a powerful force for good. Leveraged effectively, digital products can supplement in-person care, free up valuable resources, and increase access to culturally competent and timely support. Digital innovations also have the potential to adapt to the shifting needs and desires of rapidly evolving teenagers, leading to improved uptake and adherence. 

Increased access to care doesn’t guarantee improved mental health outcomes. Given the stakes in the well-being of individuals, we can’t simply use traditional startup metrics, such as the amount of funding raised, as the barometer for success. We should uplift companies that prioritize evidence and impact while seeking out founders who understand through lived experience the communities they are serving.  

The Accelerator: Navigation for Early-Stage Startups

Nobody will deny that launching a youth mental health product is tough. The business journey is especially challenging for companies focused on serving specific underserved communities.  Founders must navigate challenging business models, privacy regulations, and investor expectations, all while building a product that resonates with young people. 

The Headstream Accelerator is a four-month virtual program where founders co-create and refine their concepts alongside youth professionals, ensuring truly youth-centered solutions. We concentrate on supporting companies to create their pathway to supporting youth of color, LGBTQIA+ teens, and other communities in need of mental health support. This includes rapidly identifying their product market fit and understanding the different types of funding that can fuel their startup’s growth. 

Key to the success of the Accelerator has been creating cohorts that prioritize collaboration and collective learning. This aspect is critical for the 60+ innovators we have supported, the vast majority of whom are first-time founders without the existing Rolodex of investors or customers. And the program works! 100% of innovators in our 2024 Accelerator reported an improved ability to reach underserved youth. The Accelerator allows Headstream to invest in promising new types of care models, such as peer-to-peer support, which can expand how we think about supporting youth mental health.  

“We previously had a really difficult time finding young people in our target demographic that were younger than 18, but Headstream has allowed us to connect with fabulous young people across the country who've given us really great insights and POVs about how to meet young people where they are, in terms of addressing their mental health challenges. We've gotten great feedback from young people on how to restructure our account creation process and what info they'd feel comfortable providing, in addition to thinking through the best payment options for D2C products targeting young people.” -Alex Goldman, Founding Product Manager of Flourish Labs 

The Entrepreneur Residency Program: Scaling and Expanding

After a number of years running the Accelerator, we saw that even the most promising early-stage companies often hit a wall when trying to scale beyond their first set of customers. Even the startups demonstrating the most impressive results and impact weren’t getting the traction that would allow them to scale. In order to increase access to these interventions with evidence of impact, we created the Headstream Entrepreneur Residency. The Program is designed to accelerate new customer acquisition. During the Residency, companies identify new education customers and Medicaid reimbursement models – two challenging but effective pathways to reaching underserved young people. 

We’re proud to support a diverse group of innovators. In our 2024 Residency Program, 45% of applicants identified as BIPOC+, and nearly two-thirds were women-led businesses.

Real Results For Real Change

The Residency is the natural progression from the Accelerator. Of the seven Residents in the initial cohort, two of them are graduates of the Accelerator. One is Steven Moyo, a doctor and the CEO of Welfie, a community health platform that gives people a regular snapshot of their health. 

Through the Residency, Steven refined Welfie’s strategy and expanded its reach within underserved communities. Creating “a circular economy around community schools and community health workers.” Welfie is now building an assistant to guide young people’s health journeys, making a real difference in communities with limited access to resources.

“Because of Headstream, I was able to "connect with leaders in youth mental health, deeper understand the ecosystem and most importantly learn from youth in the design and development of our product and services.” - Steven Moyo, CEO and Founder, Welfie 

Digital Solutions for Student Well-being

Our focus on accelerating innovation is not because there’s a shortage of mental health products or services. In fact, Headstream built a Youth Digital Wellness Landscape that maps over three thousand solutions at the intersection of youth, tech, and mental health. The challenge is not quantity but quality. How can we ensure that the most impactful innovations are the ones that are scaling and supporting young people? Our solution was to expand our support to include the customer, starting with K-12 schools and districts. With a bit of guidance, the education sector can improve its sourcing to increase the utilization of digital interventions that have demonstrated impact and are more targeted to specific student mental well-being needs. 

K-12 Mental Health Tech Navigator

We teamed up with The Jed Foundation and the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute to create the K-12 Mental Health Tech Navigator, a tool that guides schools and districts to identify, utilize, and sustainably fund the digital mental health interventions that will be most effective for their students.  

The need to provide large-scale student mental health support at K-12 schools is a recent phenomenon. Schools and districts are still learning how to effectively resource that type of care and the ways that technology can supplement existing models. The Navigator helps education leaders find and implement effective technology solutions, guiding them through the entire process — from identifying needs to connecting them with proven solutions, funding, and implementation support. Data drives our work, so we track impact and train educators to do the same.

Starting in 2025, Headstream, in collaboration with school mental health and well-being experts, will provide districts with a Learning Lab that supports the development of school mental health strategies through a 5-module program. We envision a future where every student, regardless of background, has access to tailored mental health support. We’re committed to helping schools leverage digital mental health products to make this a reality. For more information about participating in the K-12 Navigator Learning Lab, you can sign up here. 

Youth Collective 

So far, we’ve only discussed the adults in the room. Too often, we forget to include the people we are ultimately trying to support. Young people are experts in their own experiences. That’s why we don’t just ask for their feedback — we give them a seat at the table. Their input helps founders build products that young people want to use over extended periods of time. 

Through Headstream’s Youth Collective, teenagers collaborate side-by-side with innovators from the Headstream Accelerator and Residency Program to create the next generation of digital mental health tools. 

96% of the 2024 Youth Collective were actively involved in product development decisions.

“One of my key takeaways was that no matter what idea I had — it was never frowned upon. Sometimes, I'd think that something I had thought of or suggested would be silly, and I was consistently reaffirmed that it wasn't, essentially what I had to say mattered. That in itself is a very hard feeling to have these days, especially in a society where youth don't have as strong of a voice as they should,” said one of our 2024 youth advisors.

Student input helps founders build programs that actually work. 92% of innovators of the 2024 Accelerator said they’re better equipped to work with youth to improve their products or services. As Mitali Chakraborty, Founder of Youth Jobs Connect, puts it, “This experience helps me influence my clients or stakeholders to develop youth-centered products or programs.”

And it’s not just the innovators who benefit. Youth advisors gain valuable experience that prepares them for college applications, internships, and future job opportunities. Plus, they connect with incredible mentors and build lifelong friendships.

“Participating in this program provided a fantastic opportunity to connect with peers who are passionate about various fields and come from diverse backgrounds. By blending our ideas, we consistently achieved innovative results.” -Youth Co-Creator 

We want to position young people to create meaningful change in their schools and communities now and in the future. We know they are capable. When young people have a voice, real change happens.

Youth Mental Health Is A Crisis We Can Solve Together

Addressing the well-being of young people doesn’t fall on the shoulders of any one group. It has to be a collaborative effort. Fortunately, there are innovators, educators, and young people primed to be part of the solution. 

We want you to be part of the solution.

For startups interested in our entrepreneur support programs, the Accelerator is open for applications until March 16th. Apply here.

If you are a young person interested in being a member of the Youth Collective, applications will open on February 3rd, 2025. You can join the waiting list here and be the first one to apply!

School and district leaders seeking to support their students’ mental well-being should fill out this form, and we’ll reach out with Learning Lab opportunities and resources.  

Everyone else can learn more and get involved at www.headstreaminnovation.com. Feel free to email us at hello@headstreaminnovation.com with ideas or questions.