The Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) announced the 2026 Advisory Committee for the Youth Mental Health Fund (YMHF). This year, the Advisory Committee is comprised entirely of youth aged 18-24, making YMHF the largest fully youth-led mental health fund of its kind in the country.
While much airtime is given to the pain of young people amidst a mental health crisis, DWP also believes in the power of young people to catalyze healing. Through an intensive six-month process, these young people will strategize, build community, engage in healing practices, develop tactical skills, and ultimately make all grant decisions. They are laser-focused on inspiring philanthropy to trust young people with real power and to move more resources to culturally responsive youth mental health care.
As DWP’s grantmaking initiative dedicated exclusively to culturally-responsive youth mental health care, YMHF reinforces the urgent need for accessible, community-informed mental health services and sustained investment in dismantling the financial, social, and institutional barriers that disproportionately restrict access to care for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities.
YMHF will award $10 million to be distributed over the next two years. These resources will be distributed to nonprofit organizations and Tribal Nations across the U.S. that advocate for and provide mental health services tailored to the unique experiences and needs of young people ages 12 to 24.
The Youth Mental Health Fund’s Advisory Committee brings together eight young leaders from across the country. These accomplished young people are advocates, healers, and leaders in both their local communities and nationally, each helping advance care with young people. They have presented on mental health at the White House, studied the impact of spirituality on healing for Black women in the Mississippi Delta, created robust support systems for Indigenous youth, and more.
While mental health funding has grown in recent years, it is still woefully underfunded. We also know that giving to BIPOC and LGBTQ communities is on the decline. These combined overwhelming realities showcase the need for this Fund and for further investment in services across the country.
Through targeted investments and a commitment to elevating solutions that reflect the lived experiences of young people, YMHF bridges critical gaps in care and advances innovative approaches that direct funding to the communities and organizations positioned to meet the needs of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth.
The 2026 Advisory Committee
- Bre’Anna Coleman (23) – Writer & Faith-Rooted Mental Health Advocate
- Cadon Sagendorf (24) – Child Welfare Policy Advocate
- Chetan Soni (20) – Nonprofit Founder & Executive Director
- Jamya Clark (21) – Youth Organizer
- Janiah Fields (21) – Black Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Advocate
- Tony Fields (21) – Indigenous Student Leader (Pima/Navajo)
- Marco Antonio Lima (21) – BIPOC & LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health Researcher
- Neela Ravindran (19) – Reproductive Justice & Trauma-Informed Care Organizer
“At a time when young people are navigating growing social isolation, economic uncertainty, and heightened stress impacting their mental wellbeing, this fund serves as a critical investment in the mental health infrastructure we need to ensure all individuals receive the care they deserve,” said Edgar Villanueva, Founder and CEO of Decolonizing Wealth Project. “This committee represents the strength in young leaders, advocates, and changemakers, and we’re honored to learn from and partner with them as they shape where resources flow.”
At the foundation of this fund is DWP’s Reparative Philanthropy™ Framework, which is rooted in Indigenous wisdom, trauma-informed practice, and spirituality. The framework calls on philanthropy to build whole new decision-making tables, rather than setting token seats at existing ones, so that those closest to a challenge hold real power in shaping the response. By exclusively centering young people at the decision-making table, YMHF puts that principle into action, ensuring those closest to today’s youth mental health challenges determine how resources are distributed. Using its framework, DWP has unlocked over $1 billion in new reparative giving through direct engagement with individuals and organizations.
“Now entering its second year, the Youth Mental Health Fund continues to support organizations that are boldly reimagining what culturally grounded mental health care for young people can look like,” said Rich Havard, Director of the Youth Mental Health Fund at Decolonizing Wealth Project.“Building on the work of last year’s intergenerational Advisory Committee, this all-youth cohort reflects the dynamic, innovative, and responsive ideas that emerge when young people are meaningfully included in the decision-making processes that affect their lives.”
“Being a part of the Advisory Committee for the Youth Mental Health Fund is a very healing experience,” said Neela Ravindran, YMHF Advisory Committee Member and Reproductive Justice & Trauma-Informed Care Organizer. They continued, “As someone who has struggled with trauma and their own mental health, seeing people working to make sure that the care people like me receive is rooted in their cultural practices – and rooted in things that I’ve been disconnected from – has been deeply healing. I think the field of philanthropy as a whole should take inspiration from that.”
Programming for this cohort will include monthly virtual gatherings and two in-person convenings. In July, the cohort gathered in Rapid City, South Dakota, to learn, connect, and root in Indigenous land, wisdom, and healing practices as they prepare to make a bold investment. In October, the cohort will convene in New York City to make grant decisions and meet with funders from across the country to imagine how philanthropy can invest in youth mental health.
To learn more about the fund, visit: https://www.decolonizingwealth.com/initiatives/youth-mental-health-fund
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