Youth Mental Health
Guided by our Community Advisory Board, youth mental health has been a focus for Collaborative Catalyst. Over the past few years, we’ve brought together for kickoff events and coffee chats to engage researchers, city and state officials, and other community organization leaders who work in youth mental health and advocacy. Learn more about our events below.
Youth Mental Health Gathering
May 2025
Hosted by: Harvard Catalyst Community Engagement
We hosted our second Collaborative Catalyst Youth Mental Health event at the Boston Nature Center in Mattapan. Attendees included researchers, community based organization staff, and city/state agency leaders. The theme of the afternoon was ‘mutual aid’ – what can we do to support one another during this particularly challenging time?
Through collective ideation activities such as brainwriting and affinity mapping, we named resources and skills that people either needed or could provide to one another. Some examples discussed were supports for entire families, connections to universities and students, trainings for youth-facing adults, and trainings on restorative justice practices.
Past Events
12 community members and researchers came together to discuss major issues and needs within youth mental health. After introductions and brainstorming in small teams, the group shared their ideas and prioritized them into themes such as: identifying mental health needs in early childcare, promoting family and community strengths, increasing access to services, diversifying the workforce, and impact of social media.
Attendees also got a chance to share which themes resonated with them the most in an effort to connect with those who share similar interests within youth mental health.
Past Newsletters
Contact Kamini Mallick at kmallick@hsph.harvard.edu if you would like to be added to the mailing list or would like to submit an entry for our newsletter. You are welcome to share information about a relevant program, your organization, recent wins/publications, policy changes, and more.