Who We Are

Children, youth and families know better than anyone what works, and what doesn’t. Speak Our Minds exists to make sure their experience doesn’t end at the bedside. We bring those voices into the rooms where healthcare systems, policy, and communities get shaped.

Better systemsstart by listening

Young people and families don’t need a seat at the table. They should help build the table.

Young people and families don’t need a seat at the table. They should help build the table. That’s why Speak Our Minds was founded in partnership with Children’s Hospital Association. Together, we’re bringing lived experience and clinical expertise together to build a future where youth mental health works better, for everyone.

In practice, that means identifying and strengthening family and youth councils inside children’s hospitals, and connecting what those councils learn to advocacy at the state and federal level.

Speak Our Minds began in 2021, when children’s hospitals and national partners declared a state of emergency for youth mental health. Since then, it’s grown from a national awareness campaign into a nonprofit affiliate of the Children’s Hospital Association, working to turn that urgency into lasting change.

Leadership

Meet the people guiding
this work.

Meet the team →

Partners

Dozens of hospitals and organizations, working toward the same goal.

See our partners →