Team: Changing Minds – Winner of Open Minds Initiative!

We are excited to announce that a partnership between Futures Without Violence, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and National Council for Mental Wellbeing is the winner of Harry’s Open Minds Initiative — an initiative awarding $5 million to fund the next great idea with potential to change the state of mental health in the United States! This investment builds on the company’s longstanding commitment to promoting better mental health care for men. Thank you Harry’s!

With Harry’s as the founding investor, Team: Changing Minds will be a groundbreaking national network of mental health responders dedicated to helping young people, and especially young men of color and male-identified youth, recognize signs of early mental health challenges and connect to support.

Leveraging the wide appeal of youth sports and video games, Team: Changing Minds youth and adult mental health responders will be embedded in the activities kids love, ensuring help is just a click, call, or connection away.

While half of all chronic mental health challenges show up by age 14, it takes over ten years on average until most people access help, with Black, Indigenous and other young men of color among the least likely to gain access to support.

By increasing the number of male-identified youth who connect to support earlier in their life trajectories, the program offers promise in the long term to decrease suicides in the U.S. among men, who currently make up 79% of deaths from suicide. Team: Changing Minds will launch later this year.

For questions, contact: TeamChangingMinds@FuturesWithoutViolence.org