our Minds Matter Teens Take Their Leadership to New Heights
On March 7th, 2026, OMM hosted an in-person Teen Leader Summit, providing a safe space for teens to connect, share ideas, sharpen their leadership skills, practice self-care, and leave with a clear plan of action to make an impact on mental health at the individual and systemic levels.
Over 50 teen leaders from across the DMV changed the narrative surrounding the youth mental health crisis. Instead of focusing on fragility, this summit told a different story:
Teens are capable when they are empowered, supported, and connected to a strong network of peers and trusted adults.
Morning Motivation
The day began with opening remarks from OMM Founder and CEO, Lauren Anderson, who thanked teen leaders for all that they’ve already done to change the culture around mental health, and encouraged them to lean in and soak up as much as they could from the day so they can continue making an impact.
“This event demonstrates what’s possible when young people not only participate in conversations, but actively drive them.” – Lauren Anderson
Following Lauren was the Keynote Speaker, OMM Teen Advisory Council alumna and graduate of School Without Walls in DC Public Schools, Jasmin Goodwin. Jasmin, who recently spoke on Capitol Hill for the launch of the Safe Online Standards, shared her journey with mental health. From becoming an OMM leader in high school to expanding on her leadership since graduating, Jasmin has dedicated her educational pursuits to obtaining a PhD in Clinical Psychology and African American Studies. She spoke passionately about understanding how different cultures, lifestyles, and histories influence mental health in individuals and communities.
Jasmin tied her story together with a motivating message inspired by Tiana from The Princess and the Frog: When it comes to making an impact on mental health, we have to stop wishing and start working. She challenged the teen leaders to consider where they can stop wishing and start working for mental health change as they move through the day.
Teens Take Center Stage
We knew we wanted this Summit to not only be for teens, but by teens. Our Teen Advisory Council (TAC) members weighed in on every decision, from the agenda, to panel questions and journal prompts, to the food. To ensure that participants had the opportunity to learn directly from their peers, the TAC members also hosted the first breakout sessions of the day, focused on mental health advocacy.
TAC members Mikaela, Nushrat, and Shaelyn led Your Story, Your Change, teaching participants how to write effective and powerful testimonies to make change for mental health in schools, communities, and government. The excitement for mental health advocacy, and two action-oriented sessions led by teens, for teens, filled the whole venue with a buzz of hope and inspiration.
Simultaneously, Gia, Lady, Nare, and Ted led the breakout session, Kindness Chain Reaction: How We Turn Care into Mental Health Advocacy. Participants created a physical “chain” full of examples of kindness and advocacy, demonstrating how teens can take everyday acts of kindness and take them one step further into mental health advocacy.
These feelings continued after lunch, when OMM Director of Program Partnerships Mo Meadows hosted an alumni panel. Firdos Ahmed (Quince Orchard & TAC, 2025), Hannan Mumtaz (James Madison, 2018), and Tyler Paloma (Thomas Edison & TAC, 2024) are three young adults who led thriving OMM clubs during their time in high school. Now making their mark as college students and young professionals, they returned to share about what they learned from their time as OMM leaders, and how they’ve continued to prioritize mental health action AND their own mental health in this next chapter of their lives.
Firdos, Hannan, and Tyler shared experiences that shaped how they learned to create boundaries and healthy environments for themselves in university as well as in the professional space. They also stressed how it may be easy to advocate for others, but you also must remember to advocate and take care of yourself.
With so many participants just months away from high school graduation, this panel served as an important leadership and professional development tool, as well as a reminder that mental health advocacy is a lifelong commitment.
“Leadership doesn’t mean having all the answers all the time. It is illustrating that you care and have the ability to show up. It’s about celebrating victories – even the small ones.”
– Hannan Mumtaz
Centering Connection, Joy, and Self-Care
Amidst all the important learning and talk of mental health advocacy, we didn’t want to lose sight of the fact that joy and connection are key parts of this work, especially for young people. Throughout the day, teens engaged in “connection cultivators” during breaks, where they were encouraged to chat with one another using provided prompts like:
- What or who inspires you to make change/be a leader in your schools and communities?
- Why is it important for leaders to prioritize self-care?
- What does self-care look like for you?
Participants also had a “choose your own adventure” breakout session, where theywere able to take part in either a card game about building human connection in an age of AI from the Rithm Project, or get creative and design some new button options for OMM.
And since just one session of joy is never enough, OMM also provided fun throughout the day in the form of friendship bracelet making at lunch, coloring sheets and fidget toys offered all day, and an afternoon session focused solely on self-care. Participants were also given notebooks they could personalize and use as a way to take a break to draw or write. By the end of the day, nearly every notebook was decorated and personalized.
Mariah Karis, from OMM’s incredible partner Born This Way Foundation, led the teens in a journaling session focused on self-care, because being a lifelong leader requires resilience and lots of self-love.
Changing the culture around mental health is a serious cause, but the reality is that in order to work hard, we have to play hard!
A Call to Action
To close out the day, OMM Director of Innovation Rachel Greenberg led the participants in a call to action, asking them to reflect on what they will take away from today and how they will turn that into at least one action for mental health. The teen leaders wrote down their actions, which included actions for their own mental health, their schools, and their communities and governments, and placed them on a poster paper to create one big visual representation of the change we will all make, together. Chief Program Officer Laura Beth Levitt then shared some closing remarks and left the group feeling inspired, connected, and empowered to continue being mental health changemakers.
As for OMM, we wrapped up the day feeling hopeful, humbled, and filled with happiness from seeing so many incredible young leaders gathered in one place. Like our Keynote Speaker, Jasmin, said: Mental health change is not a destination; it’s a journey that we’re all on together. And there’s no one we’d rather have alongside us than the incredible community of OMM Teen Leaders.
Beyond the excitement of the day, we are also grateful to our district partners at Fairfax County Public Schools and District of Columbia Public Schools for their hands-on engagement with students, and to our incredible venue host, Virginia Tech, for providing the perfect space for us to connect.
