THE REACH INSTITUTE CEO LISA HUNTER ROMANELLI, PH.D., HONORED AS 2025 ELEVATE PRIZE WINNER, RECOGNIZED AS A TRAILBLAZER ADVANCING TRANSFORMATIVE SOLUTIONS TO ENSURE YOUTH ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTHCARE

The Elevate Prize Recognition and Investment Will Help Scale The REACH Institute's Visionary Work to Address the Children's Mental Health Crisis

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The REsource for Advancing Children's Mental Health, commonly known as The REACH Institute, proudly announced that its CEO, Lisa Hunter Romanelli, Ph.D., has been named a 2025 Elevate Prize winner in recognition of her trailblazing leadership and transformative solutions to ensure youth access to mental healthcare. The prestigious award, granted by the Elevate Prize Foundation, celebrates global changemakers who are addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges.

The Elevate Prize Foundation, launched by philanthropist Joseph Deitch in 2019, is on a mission to "Make Good Famous" by bringing attention to social changemakers who are solving critical global issues. Dr. Hunter Romanelli joins nine other visionary leaders each recognized for tackling timely, complex global challenges. Each of the 10 Elevate Prize winners will receive $300,000 in unrestricted funding, $250,000 of which will go directly to the organization itself. The remaining $50,000 will be for the leader to invest in their personal resilience and wellbeing—a form of support that is largely unprecedented in the philanthropic space and upholds the foundation's philosophy of the Whole Leader.

"The 10 visionaries in our 2025 Elevate Prize cohort are already changing the world with their bold solutions and unrelenting optimism; redefining what's possible in social impact and rewriting the rules entirely," said Carolina García Jayaram, CEO of the Elevate Prize Foundation. "From combating online hate and misinformation with cutting-edge digital advocacy to reclaiming Indigenous foodways to addressing health and cultural inequities, to healing combat veterans through the power of music, these changemakers are pioneering innovative approaches to equity, health, and sustainability. Their groundbreaking work not only inspires action, but also promises to capture the world's attention."

As CEO of REACH, Dr. Hunter Romanelli has been instrumental in ensuring healthcare providers are equipped with the training and tools to address pediatric mental health issues and support children and families nationwide. REACH teaches the most effective therapies, from psychotherapy to pharmacology, so primary care providers–such as pediatricians, family physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other clinicians–are equipped to diagnose and treat children and teens' mental health issues. By training frontline health professionals, REACH is expanding access to evidence-based care, especially for youth in high-need communities where care is unavailable or cost prohibitive for many.

According to the CDC, approximately 20% of children in the U.S. have a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder, yet only a small fraction of them (20%) get the help they need. Wait times for behavioral health services span multiple months in many parts of the country, and HRSA predicts the treatment gap to get even worse as the demand for child and adolescent psychiatry grows twice as fast as the supply of those physicians.

Thanks to Dr. Hunter Romanelli's Elevate Prize, REACH will receive unrestricted funding and strategic support services to expand its groundbreaking initiatives. Since 2006, REACH has trained more than 8,000 primary care providers, and the goal is to train 16,000 primary care providers by 2027. Every healthcare practitioner REACH trains has the capacity to support approximately 2,500 children with mental health concerns over the course of their careers.

"I am deeply honored to receive the Elevate Prize, which will amplify our work to close the gap in children's mental health care," said Dr. Hunter Romanelli. "At a time when mental health challenges among youth are at an all-time high, this award allows us to expand our impact and empower more clinicians to help more children and families."

For more information about The REACH Institute, visit www.thereachinstitute.org. To learn more about the Elevate Prize and its 2025 winners, visit www.elevateprize.org.

About The REACH Institute
The REACH Institute is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that the most effective, scientifically proven mental health care reaches all children and families. Since 2006, REACH has trained more than 8,000 primary care providers in evidence-based mental health care. The organization addresses the critical shortage of pediatric mental health services, especially in underserved areas, by providing intensive training programs for healthcare professionals to better diagnose, treat, and manage mental health issues in children and adults. For more information, visit https://thereachinstitute.org.

SOURCE The REACH Institute