The Jed Foundation and America's Promise Alliance Announce Institute for Youth Mental Health to Strengthen Emotional Well-Being Supports in Community-Based Organizations

Fifteen leading nonprofits join inaugural cohort to advance mental health support and suicide prevention for more than 1.8 million youth

NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jed Foundation (JED), a leading nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults, and America's Promise Alliance (APA), a community of more than 150 youth-serving nonprofits, today announce the launch of the Institute for Youth Mental Health. This bold new initiative will enable the nation's leading community-based organizations (CBOs) to strengthen their mental health strategies and help prevent suicide among the youth they serve.

This initiative marks a significant step toward embedding supports into the places where teens and young adults already spend their time, hold trusting relationships, and feel a sense of safety and belonging. Grounded in JED's Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention for Community-Based Organizations, the Institute works with a cohort of APA member organizations over a period of 18 months, providing content knowledge, expert training, assessment tools, strategic planning, and implementation support to ensure mental health and suicide prevention strategies are integrated into their day-to-day programming.

The Institute builds on JED's decades of work with colleges, high schools, and school districts, adapting proven, systemwide strategies to meet the unique needs and opportunities of CBOs. By enabling participating organizations to identify and respond to emerging youth mental health needs, implement comprehensive prevention strategies, and establish stronger pathways for referral and care, the Institute aims to create a replicable model that can be scaled across APA's full membership and, eventually, the broader nonprofit sector.

"At JED, we believe that weaving mental health support into youth-serving institutions is one of the most powerful ways to prevent crises before they happen," said John MacPhee, JED CEO. "Through the Institute, we're equipping organizations with the tools, training, and strategic guidance they need to meet young people where they are with care, intention, and data-driven practices."

APA's national network reaches more than 31 million young people through over 150 leading nonprofit organizations working in K-12 education, postsecondary-to-workforce pathways, and civic engagement. Through this partnership, 15 APA member organizations, collectively serving more than 1.8 million youth, have joined the inaugural cohort convening this fall. 

"We've heard from countless leaders across our network of youth-serving nonprofits that for many of their frontline staff, providing mental health support inevitably becomes part of the job," shares Mike O'Brien, CEO of APA. "Given their proximity to young people — and the reality that they are often called upon, day or night, to help youth navigate urgent needs, typically under significant resource constraints — community-based leaders represent a deeply trusted, yet deeply under-resourced network of care and support."

This fall's Institute for Youth Mental Health cohort includes:

1. 10,000 Degrees
2. 826 National
3. Access Opportunity
4. Camp Fire
5. Civics Unplugged
6. Colorado Youth for a Change
7. DREAM
8. Friends of the Children
9. Let's Get Ready
10. Literacy Lab
11. Peer Health Exchange
12. Summer Search
13. The Opportunity Network
14. Youth Guidance
15. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

"Participating in this Institute for Youth Mental Health program offers us a community of practice with other organizations who are deeply committed to improving the lives of youth," said Terri Sorensen, CEO of Friends of the Children — National. "Connection to this community affords Friends of the Children the opportunity to embed new strategies within our organization to promote mental health for the youth we serve. We see this program as a way to make our mental health outcomes for youth even better."

This initiative is supported in part by The Goodness Web and Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation.

For more information about the Institute for Youth Mental Health, click here.

To learn more about JED's support for community-based organizations visit our website.

Upon request by the media, interviews are available with Mike O'Brien, CEO of APA, John MacPhee, CEO of JED, Dr. Katie Hurley, Senior Director, Clinical Advising and Community Programming of JED, and a participating CBO.

About The Jed Foundation (JED)
JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation's teens and young adults. We're partnering with high schools, colleges, and school districts to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. We're equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. We're encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health.

Connect with JED: Email | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Snapchat | YouTube 

About America's Promise Alliance (APA)
Since its founding more than 25 years ago, America's Promise Alliance has mobilized the youth-serving sector to achieve progress around large, shared goals, including high school graduation, national service, and youth employment. A national community of more than 150 nonprofits that collectively reach over 31 million young people annually, the Alliance offers leadership development, knowledge sharing, and capacity building programming alongside national research and Collective Action initiatives that make it possible to tackle challenges that are too large or too complex for any one organization to address on its own.

Media Contact
Justin Barbo
Director of Public Relations
The Jed Foundation
914-844-4611
[email protected]

Lindsey Seltzer
Vice President, Communications
America's Promise Alliance
202-674-9836
[email protected]

SOURCE The Jed Foundation