On March 22, 2022, parents, students, educators, health care professionals, community leaders, and concerned citizens across the country came together to take part in a virtual conversation to address the mental health emergency among our youth. This event was a galvanizing moment for our movement to collectively envision new paths forward for healthy schools, healthy childhood, and a healthy society.

We invite you to host a local State of the Kids event to grow change in your community. Simply complete this form to get started, and we’ll provide everything you need to create an engaging event and get the conversation started.

Together, let’s continue to create more spaces and experiences that offer comfort and hope as we prioritize our kids’ well-being.

FEATURED VOICES

Deborah Roberts is a multiple award-winning ABC News journalist and 20/20 correspondent and former talk show host who has traveled the country and the world for her eye-opening reports on 20/20 and World News Tonight. She has also served as an anchor on World News Tonight Weekend and Good Morning America.

Dr. Lisa Damour is a youth psychologist recognized and the author of two New York Times best selling books, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood and Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls. She writes about teenagers for the New York Times, co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, and appears as a regular contributor to CBS News.

Julie Lythcott-Haims is a former Stanford dean, speaker, and the New York Times bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult which gave rise to a popular TED Talk. She’s also the author of Your Turn: How to Be an Adult and serves on the boards of Common Sense Media, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Narrative Magazine, and on the Board of Trustees at California College of the Arts.

Jason Gant is a learning designer and facilitator with a specific interest in mindfulness and athletics. He has helped support healthy and inclusive communities, youth, workplaces, and teams globally. Jason is a certified Mindfulness, EQ Coach trained through Search Inside Yourself, the global mindfulness platform developed at Google.

Meghna Singh is a Community and Global Public Health student at the University of Michigan, with minors in Spanish and Education. Her passion for mental health advocacy and suicide prevention efforts was sparked after her high school community faced two youth suicide clusters. She currently works as a Student Associate Study Coordinator at the Healthy Minds Network, surveying high school student mental health, well-being, and service utilization nationwide.

Rick Weissbourd is a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His work focuses on vulnerability and resilience in childhood, moral development, and effective schools and services for children. He directs the Human Development and Psychology Program and the Making Caring Common Project, a national effort to promote emotional and social capacities in children. His most recent book is The Parents We Mean to Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children’s Moral and Emotional Development.

Vicki Abeles is a documentary filmmaker, author, and passionate advocate for children and families whose films Race to Nowhere and Beyond Measure, along with her New York Times-bestselling book Beyond Measure, have sparked dialogues across thousands of communities and inspired changes to reimagine healthy schools, healthy childhood, and a healthy society. She is currently the Impact Producer for Chasing Childhood.

In partnership with Urban Word, the National Youth Poet Laureate Program

This event is presented by Beyond the Race to Nowhere, the nonprofit that grew out of millions of concerned people uniting around the documentary Race to Nowhere to reimagine a healthier future for our children and our society.

This event had a suggested donation of $5 and funds raised will be donated to The Jed Foundation.