It's incredibly important to
innovate around mental health,
because we've seen that standard
solutions just aren't working.
People can't afford it.
It's super hard to find a therapist
of color if you're looking for one,
or someone that identifies with
your cultural background.
And so we need more players in
the mental health space that
are really,
really committed to providing care
that meets people where they are.
MindRight is a mental health
startup based here in Newark,
New Jersey, and our whole mission
is around advancing health
equity by making mental health care
radically accessible and inclusive.
I've always been entrepreneurial,
and I think it runs in the family.
I probably get it from my dad.
He grew up here in Newark, and
the city is just full of the spirit
of hustle and getting stuff done.
I always knew I wanted
to start my own company.
So growing up, Stanford would
really be the dream, just given all
the resources that there are.
And I knew if I was surrounded in
that environment, I could really
make something happen.
The question was what?
I worked here in education at
a charter high school not far from
where we are right now, and just
fell in love with that experience
and working with my students who
are the most incredible,
strongest people I know.
But I also saw the trauma they
experienced and mental health
challenges that were often unmet,
because no young person wants to
talk to a therapist.
It's not cool,
there's a bunch of stigma.
And if you actually are interested,
you can't afford it.
Maybe you don't have
transportation to get there.
And so after seeing my students
kind of face these challenges,
I just thought,
how can we make mental health, one,
more accessible, and then two,
actually fun for a teenager to do?
To keep it simple, MindRight is
coaching over text message.
It's not an app, nothing you have
to download on your phone.
It's just straight texting to keep
it as simple as possible and
accessible as possible.
So to sign up, you just text us,
then you get matched with your
personal team of coaches.
And every day they are proactively
texting you, hey Ashley,
how's your day going?
How'd your basketball game go
yesterday?
How's it going applying to
colleges, etc?
And the best part is,
you're talking to the same people
every day.
So it's not like a traditional
mental health hotline where you're
getting a different person that you
don't know.
At MindRight, you really get to
build a relationship with
the people who are supporting you.
And we have people who have been
texting MindRight for
three to four years at this point.
The second part of what makes this
different is that we recognize that
it's not only important to be there
for you when you are going through
a tough moment.
But there's so many young people
when something good actually
happens in their lives,
they don't have someone who can
actually celebrate them, or who is
there to help express positivity.
And we've been told by our members
that that is as important as having
support when you're going
through the hard times.
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Being at the GSB, you just feel
like everything's possible, and
I had a bunch of dreams before I
got there.
But to be in a place like Stanford
where you actually are surrounded
by people and resources that
are committed to help you succeed,
it's amazing.
I don't think if I was anywhere
else, I would have had that
immediate support to be able to
launch MindRight eventually into
what it is today.
It really just expands how you
think about the world and
problems and solutions.
So when it came to mental health
and just thinking about creating
a solution that could better serve
my students, what I realized and
what I strongly believe in is
that healing can look different for
everyone.
And for some people that
is clinical therapy, and for other
people, that can be MindRight.
I am doing work that I feel like
I am truly changing lives.
We are providing daily mental
health support to youth who
otherwise may not have access.
Young people who have suicidality,
who have thoughts of self-harm,
and feel like they have no one
to go to, but are able to
get support from MindRight.
I think all of our coaches and
our clinicians on our team
are helping us change lives.
And by changing lives,
you ultimately change the world,
which I think is what's happened
when you have a community of people
that are actually healed and
are actually well.
And that's really what MindRight
about.
My name is Ashley Edwards, and
I am the founder and
CEO of MindRight Health.
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