Since 2019, Jared's Fund Youth Fellowship has given Essex County-area students something rare: the funding, mentorship, and space to take mental health advocacy seriously.

Each summer, fellows design and lead their own projects challenging the stigma of mental illness, supported by a speaker series and a community of peers who get it. Now expanding into Bloomfield and Nutley, JFYF is growing the circle of young people who believe advocacy is something you do, not just something you talk about.

I've been proud to volunteer with this program and a member of its first cohort.