Youth Board – SafeSpace

Emily

“Everyone has mental health and it is something that affects everyone across ages, genders, nationalities, etc., so I feel that it needs to be addressed much more than it is currently. You shouldn’t have to be seriously struggling with some mental health issue to think about mental health, you don’t have to have depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, an eating disorder, or some sort of addiction to focus on your mental health, yet many people feel that that is the only time to talk about it.”

Reza

“Mental health is important to me because I know what’s it like to feel desperate, but not know what to do. And not know how to fix it. I don’t want any kid to have to feel that. It’s important to me because there is help and I want to help others like myself find it.”

Rishika

“Mental Health is a serious issue that so many people deal with and yet has really less awareness about it. Having struggled with mental illness’s myself, I want to make sure people around me don’t feel alone while struggling with mental illness.”

Conor

“Mental Health is important because it’s a humongous issue in the United States and needs to be talked about. From having a family member suffer from mental health issues, it has made me more aware of the dramatic unify it can have on somebody’s life.”

Parinaz

“At school I am a health and wellness ambassador, a leader of the french club, the SJTI, or Social Justice Teach In, and the mentorship program at SHP. Additionally, I am a VITAS Hospice Care volunteer and part of the Model United Nations club at school.”

Princess

“I know some people that have mental issues and I care about those people. I want to help them and I want to understand them.”

Walter

“SafeSpace Center is more than a mental health organization, it’s a community. And within that community there is an amazing grassroots and motivated vibe that is palpable – that energy is what makes SafeSpace and its work so special.”

Tina

“Mental health is important to me because it affects someone’s life in a lasting way, and it can completely change someone.”

Samer

“I care for people’s feelings and emotions. I want to be there for people who have been through a lot and want to be the shoulder they can lean on. Mental health has been very taboo in our society and I want to change that. If we don’t talk about the issue and address it then our society is not helping each other.”

Riley

“Mental health can be so isolating. It can feel like you’re all alone and no one else is experiencing what you are when in reality, there are so many other people feeling the same thing struggling alone. I think normalizing the conversation around mental health is so important in order to help eliminate the shame and stigma around mental health.”

Reese

“Mental health is something that affects everybody in some way or another, even though it is barely spoken of. As someone who has struggled with mental health, I think that it is very important to to spread awareness and advocate for those who may need help.”

Noah

“I have struggled with anxiety in the past and really want to help others who may be in the same boat!”

Natalie

“I want to make sure people at my school know that they are not alone and mental health is a common problem.”

Kate

“I am passionate about preventing and helping those with mental health issues. I believe that by creating a greater conversation around mental health, it will help to combat the stigmas and help to create a more supportive environment for those struggling.”

Joshua

“I believe that people need to learn to maintain proper mental health, those who know people who have mental illnesses need to know how to respond, and those who suffer from it need to learn how to cope with it.”

Izzy

“Having mental health issues is so difficult because it’s something that can affect someone for years on end. It’s very tough to deal with and I want to make sure that others don’t go through such a hard experience with mental health.”

Isabelle

“I believe mental health is equal in importance to physical health. I want society to be able to view mental health illnesses or problems the same way they would on physical sicknesses or issues.”

Gigi

“Mental health is a heavily stigmatized issue that many of my friends and I struggle with daily. I want to do what I can to help those struggling with mental health and promote the message that one is never alone.”

Colby

“I firmly believe that having mental wellness can significantly improve one’s quality of life.”

Caroline

“I work with my friends, we talk about how to change some bad things at school.”

Meher

“I am passionate about leading a movement of change and positivity in order to rewrite the mental health stigma as a supportive and progressive one; I believe that SafeSpace is the perfect opportunity to take action and do so.”

Luke

“Personal experience and loosing someone close motivate me to try and relive the stigma from mental health struggles.”

Bella M.

“My favorite SafeSpace memory was meeting people that come from all walks of life. Despite being from different schools, we all talked as if we had known each other for a lifetime.”

Audrey

“Having poor mental health can take over one’s life and catching signs before the illness consumes you can prevent ones life of going in/out of treatment centers and constantly being unstable.”

Alex

“I have watched so many people struggle with it and all I want to do is help. At the first SafeSpace session, I realized none of us are alone.”

Alea

“I am currently working with other SafeSpace Youth Board members to change the conversation around mental health in my school community so that my peers feel that they are in a safe space.”

Aidan

“I was a part of the first ever SafeSpace meeting, and it was like a start-up and that’s really cool.”

Suzzy

“Mental health means a lot to me. I’ve seen many of my friends around me struggling with it, but only because they were never given the resources and information they needed in order to reach out for help.”

Sophia

“Someone close to me has a mental illness. It has been a battle for them and the family. Though it has been rough, they are on the path to recovery. I have tried to make the best out of what we have gone through. Through my writing, and now SafeSpace, I am using my experience as a way to help others.”

Savannah

“Mental health is such an important thing in everyone’s day to day life. The conversation needs to be changed and I have always been determined to make that happen.”

Sarah P.

“I have seen how mental health can impact not only my life but the lives of those around me.”

Sarah L.

“Everyone needs to pay attention to their mental health, yet no one talks about it; I want to help start the conversation around mental health.”

Sahana

“Mental health is something so many people deal with, yet it is not discussed. I personally deal with anxiety, and understand how debilitating it is. It is not something you are just ‘making up.’ It plays a huge role in my life and learning to cope with it has taught me so much.”

Rosa

“Mental health has affected some who are close to me and I feel it is a subject that isn’t talked about enough.”

Rachael

“I grew up around mental health and have been struggling with it myself since I was about eight years old.”

Novak

“Mental health is so important to me because there is so much pressure on youth nowadays, starting from a very young age and coming from all directions. The constant competition of the academic world, the isolation of the technology-centric social world, and the pervasive stigma around asking for help and reaching out all contribute to a scarily high rate of mental illness, drug dependency, self harm, and suicide among people under 25. This high-stress, unaccepting environment is leaving scars in kids. People deserve the opportunity to live life and pursue happiness without the massive amount of stress and expectation they face in modern society.”

Michal

“Awareness of mental illnesses and mental health is important to me so that I can be a better friend and ally to those suffering and know how to take care of myself when I am struggling, too.”

Lucinda

“Mental health is important because it is necessary that people keep their minds healthy.”

Luc

“Not knowing how to help my friends made me feel powerless. I joined SafeSpace because I wanted to be personally able to help my friends with their mental health issues or redirect them to professionals.”

Lourdes

“I have struggled with my own mental health and have seen others around me struggle with it as well so if I can do anything to help, I will, because I know how hard it can be.”

Lauren

“Stigma and lack of awareness are serious problems surrounding youth mental health; there are so many struggles that people are going through that we, as outsiders, just never see. I think it is important to be aware of what our friends, coworkers, and peers may be going through and help provide support for them.”

Kevin

“I think it is a sensitive subject that is not appropriately handled which leads to common misconceptions that does not benefit anyone in society. Everyone deals with Mental Health, so I want to help correct and destigmatize the topic so that people will better understand that help is always present, and accepting aid is not a sign of weakness.”

Kayla

“I and my family have had a lot of experiences with mental illness and it is super prevalent at Castilleja, so I am happy to have the chance to feel like I am helping combat that at SafeSpace!”

Kai

“I’ve seen the effect that mental illness has on so many people; watching their struggles and living through my own has made me truly realize how important mental health is.”

John

“I think it is important to be aware of what you are feeling as well as how to take care of yourself when you aren’t in the best mental state.”

Jessica

“The stigma around mental health is so important to me because unfortunately, we live in a world where if you break your arm, everyone runs to sign your cast, but if you tell people you’re depressed, everyone runs the other way. That’s the stigma.”

Hailey

“I realized that I can look so normal on the outside, and feel so bad on the inside. This really made me think about how many other kids around me felt the same way. From this, I knew that needed to do something to make a difference, which is why I am at SafeSpace!”

Grace

“Mental Health it is so personal to me; some of my friends, members of family, and I have all experienced challenges with it. It is so important to me that I put forward efforts to destigmatize the mental issues so common especially in our area, as well as provide support to those struggling.”

Charlotte

“Mental Health is something that everyone deals with, but there is still a huge stigma surrounding it. I think it’s important to change people’s minds who think that needing help is a sign of weakness, and instead make it safe for people to reach out. Help is out there and no one should have to suffer in silence.”

Bella V.

“No one should have to feel alone with their mental illness. The academic pressure of the Silicon Valley can feel suffocating and I want to be an ally for friends and family who need support.”

Ava

“Mental health is important to me because some people that are close to me have struggled with mental health issues. I got inspired to try to make it easier on people that struggle with mental health issues.”

Andrew

“One’s mental health shapes all other aspects of one’s life.”

Alina

“Mental health is important to me for so many reasons; lack of awareness that should be there, the effect that mental illness and wellness have on all aspects of our lives, the incredible community of voices speaking out for destigmatization.”

Amartya

“I read articles online about how teens commit suicide, have depression and how the issue is becoming more and more prominent every day.”

John Bautista

Board Member, Legal

John Bautista, a member of Orrick’s Board of Directors and Technology Companies Group, leads Orrick’s international Technology Companies practice connecting Silicon Valley with Europe and Asia. Orrick is recognized for its work in the community and pro bono efforts and John is particularly interested in youth mental health issue. SafeSpace is a pro bono client of Orrick.

John focuses his practice on advising emerging companies and investors and represents both public and private high-tech companies in many areas, including corporate and securities law, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, public company representation, and technology licensing.

Financial Times recognized John as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Individuals of the Year in 2017, calling him “one of the most influential lawyers in the technology ecosystem of Silicon Valley.”

Prior to joining Orrick, John was a founding attorney of Venture Law Group and served on the Executive Committee. John previously practiced at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.

Stephanie Brown, Ph.D.

Board Member, Mental Health Addiction

Stephanie Brown, Ph.D. is a pioneering theorist, clinician, researcher, author, teacher and consultant in the addiction field. As a psychologist, she directs the Addictions Institute, Menlo Park, California, an outpatient psychotherapy clinic, where she also maintains a private practice.

The author of 11 academic and popular books, plus training videos and a video on the stages of family recovery, Stephanie is an internationally recognized expert on the trauma and treatment of alcoholics, all addicts and their families. Especially well known for her theories and treatment of adult children of alcoholics, she lectures worldwide.

She received the Bronze Key Award (1983) and the Humanitarian Award (1984) from the National Council on Alcoholism and the Community Service Award from the California Society for the Treatment of Alcoholism and other Drug Dependencies in 1986. In 1991 she received an Academic Specialist Award from the U.S.I.A. to teach in Poland. More recently, she received the Norman Zinberg Memorial Award from Harvard University (2000), the Clark Vincent Award from the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (2001), and the Janet Geringer Woititz award from Health Communications, Inc. (2005).

Website: stephaniebrownphd.com

Brad Robertson

Board Member

Brad has over 25 years of experience as a financial professional. Having graduated from UCLA and USC Business School, he is an alumnus of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. While living in Los Angeles, Brad served as Business Manager in the Entertainment Industry. Returning to his native San Francisco Bay Area, he was Corporate Controller / CFO for several start-ups before starting his own company as a business and tax consultant.

Brad has family experience with drug addiction, suicide and other mental health issues such as bi-polar disorder. Regarding mental health, he believes there should be no person suffering in silence and that early intervention is the key to a successful and productive life. One of his goals is to expose the many positive aspects of psychotherapy to help reduce the associated public stigma.

Dina Jackson

Board Member

Dina leads the technology and digital marketing efforts for SafeSpace. She started her career as a physicist doing research and treating cancer patients at Harvard University. After pivoting her career, she became a software engineer and co-founded GoFish, which went public. She then moved into product management and focused on digital media and ad technology, working for companies including PeopleSoft and eBay and started her own ad tech consulting business.

She has a B.S. in Physics from Dickinson College.

Chris Tanti

Founding Advisor

Chris came to SafeSpace by way of Melbourne, Australia where he spent the bulk of his professional life working in the area of mental health. Most recently, he spent the last 10 years building a world-class, national youth mental health service called headspace in Australia. As the inaugural CEO, he saw the organization grow from zero to 100 centers nationally, provide online counseling services, and create a school suicide intervention program, servicing in excess of 90,000 young adults annually. Headspace successfully reached many youth at risk of harm by working with young adults themselves to build a service that met their unique needs and requirements. Importantly in the process, the organization strengthened and built capacity in communities. He has also worked as a clinician and in senior executive roles across the for-profit as well as the non-profit and government sectors. He is excited and hopeful that SafeSpace, like headspace, will achieve widespread success.

He has a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Arts degree from La Trobe University, and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Lesley Martin

Managing Director

Lesley started as a volunteer developing the SafeSpace Youth Advisory Board, then moved to a position on the Board of Directors, and is now the Managing Director of SafeSpace. She brings years of experience in the education field. She has served as a Middle School Principal at Tierra Linda Middle School in San Carlos, California, and at Taylor Middle School in Millbrae, California. She has worked as a teacher at Hillview Middle School in Menlo Park, California, Summit Charter School in East San jose, and as a Principal Leadership Coach in San Jose and East San Jose Schools. During her tenure, both the Taylor Middle School and Tierra Linda Middle School received California Distinguished School Awards. The Taylor Middle School was featured in the documentary film Bully for it’s anti-bullying efforts. She has also been a play therapist at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

Beyond her career in education, Dr. Martin is deeply involved in children’s welfare on the peninsula as a Board member and Board Chair at Star Vista. She holds a Master of Science in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and a Ph.D., in education from Mills College.

Liesl Pike Moldow

Director of Development

Liesl has more than 18 years of sales and management experience. Before joining SafeSpace, she worked at various internet and telecommunications companies both in sales and strategy areas. She is the mother of 4, and after experiencing anxiety and depression as a teen, she is more determined than ever to help other young adults develop tools and coping mechanisms to manage their own difficulties. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from Stanford University.

Susan Gordon Bird

Co-Founder

Susan has more than 20 years of experience as a worldwide sales and marketing executive in the software industry at companies including Macromedia and Frame Technology. She has helped take three companies from under $10 million in revenue to more than $150 million in revenue. In an executive capacity, she has also overseen sales, operations, technical support and customer service, and help lead three companies through the IPO process. Susan has served on several boards most recently she was a board member of a non-profit youth anti-sex trafficking organization. She was involved in opening the first Safehouse in Costa Rica for youth that had been trafficked. Susan has had several family members and young friends suffer from mild to moderate anxiety and depression as well as OCD. This inspired Susan to focus on a solution to make it easier for youth with mental health issues to get help. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) in Education from Frostburg State University.

Stacy Drazan

Co-Founder

Stacy co-founded SafeSpace in 2016 not long after the death of her daughter from suicide. She made a commitment then to reshape the mental health landscape and help families like hers get the support and resources they needed. Prior to co-founding SafeSpace, Stacy worked in sales and management with two software companies from the startup phase to IPO. After having two daughters, she became a full time mom. She volunteered and was instrumental in fundraising for their schools and several nonprofits in the local area but was taken by surprise when her youngest daughter Shelby was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety in 11th grade. She struggled to find resources to help Shelby, and came up against a healthcare system that just wasn’t equipped to handle what has become an all-too-common problem for young teens. Today, Stacy is passionately committed to helping other young people and their families fight mental health difficulties through early access to youth-appropriate, outcomes-based mental health services.

SafeSpace Youth Action Board

SafeSpace Youth Action Board

By Youth, For Youth

Meet Our Members

Alina

Amartya

Andrew

Ava

Bella V.

Charlotte

Grace

Hailey

Jessica

John

Kai

Kayla

Kevin

Lauren

Lourdes

Luc

Lucinda

Michal

Novak

Rachael

Rosa

Sahana

Sarah L.

Sarah P.

Savannah

Sophia

Suzzy

Aidan

Alea

Audrey

Bella M.

Caroline

Colby

Gigi

Isabelle

Izzy

Reza

Joshua

Kate

Luke

Maria

Meher

Natalie

Nate

Noah

Reese

Riley

Samer

Tina

Walter

Princess

Parinaz

Conor

Rishika

Emily

Join Our Youth Action Board

Having the youth voice become more integrated into the conversation about mental health is going to really help those who are struggling with issues.

It’s a topic that is deeply stigmatized in our community and we can only work to solve issues by being open and talking about them.

I myself have struggled with mental health and there weren’t very good resources available so it’s important to me that other students can get the resources I didn’t have.

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