In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re honored to open our “Changemakers in Conversation” series with Lauren Anderson, CEO of Our Minds Matter and a leader whose work sits at the intersection of youth mental health, racial equity, and community care.
Lauren co-founded Our Minds Matter with her parents following the loss of her brother to suicide at age 17. What began as a family’s act of grief and love has grown into a nationally recognized nonprofit that partners with school districts to expand teen-led mental health clubs in high schools and middle schools. Her approach is grounded in a simple but powerful belief: young people are not just the problem to be solved. They are a critical part of the solution.
Lauren’s work reflects what allyship looks like in practice: showing up for communities beyond your own, centering the most affected voices, and building systems that make space for people’s full identities. Her story is a reminder that the work of justice takes many forms, and that youth mental health is deeply part of that work.
We sat down with Lauren to talk about what young people are facing, why racial identity is inseparable from mental health, and what it means to build an organization rooted in hope.
HER WORK & ORGANIZATION
1. For SNS community members who may be meeting you for the first time — who is Lauren Anderson, and what is the organization you lead?
My name is Lauren Anderson (she/her), and I live in Falls Church, VA. I’m a proud mom of a 3- and 1-year-old, and I’m the CEO of Our Minds Matter — an organization I co-founded with my parents, originally called the Josh Anderson Foundation.
We started the organization a few years after my brother died by suicide at the young age of 17, with a mission to equip young people directly with the mental health tools, language, and skills to navigate the complexity of their lives — and ultimately, never die by suicide. It has grown into a flourishing nonprofit in which we partner with school districts to expand our teen-led mental health clubs in high schools and middle schools, helping teens improve their own well-being, grow as leaders, and serve as a frontline of support for their peers.
2. You’ve dedicated your work to youth mental health. What do you wish more people understood about what young people are facing right now?
We’re betting big on teens playing a critical role in the solution to the youth mental health crisis — because we believe in the power of young people. I wish more people believed in them and gave them credit for all they are navigating, and doing so with a lot more grace, discernment, and intentionality than they are recognized for.
Teens are facing an uphill battle right now. Tech companies are making it explicitly difficult to disengage from their platforms, cutting into young people’s sleep, human connection, and development of intrinsic interest and motivation. The social, environmental, and political world in which we live is vastly uncertain — leaving teens a foundation that is constantly shifting under their feet. And yet they continue to show up — for themselves, for their peers, for their communities. I am genuinely hopeful for our future given the bright and passionate leaders I continuously witness in action.
AAPI IDENTITY & HERITAGE
3. May is both AAPI Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. What do you most want people to understand about the mental health experiences of AAPI youth?
What I want people to understand is that silence isn’t the same as being okay. Nearly 7 in 10 AAPI young people will tell you their mental health is fine — and yet almost half score above the clinical threshold for moderate depression when asked specific questions (Beyond the Surface, The Asian American Foundation).
I’ve witnessed this firsthand within my own extended Korean American family — the pressure to maintain composure and just “deal with it,” despite what’s really going on beneath the surface. This fuels the work I do and the drive to bring our program to as many settings as possible, because mental health does not discriminate. So many young people are suffering alone and in silence.
RACE & MENTAL HEALTH
4. How does racial identity show up in the mental health journeys of the young people you serve?
For many of the young people we work with, their racial identity isn’t separate from their mental health — it’s woven into it. That’s why it’s so important for mental health systems to truly center racial equity in order to have a lasting impact.
What that would look like is young people being met where they are — in their communities — and seeing themselves reflected in the providers they’re referred to. It would mean systems that understand and work collaboratively with a young person’s family, culture, and belief systems — not against or in conflict with them. It would mean young people having their full identity welcomed and celebrated throughout their mental health journey.
To learn more about Our Minds Matter and Lauren’s work, visit ourmindsmatter.org.
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