The Black Mental Health Program was established in 2021 to support Black-led capacity building throughout Africa and the African Diaspora. Our ultimate goal was to achieve better mental health by uniting Africa and the African Diaspora through work that centered wellness, racial justice and healing.
(pictured left, a mental health literacy training in Kenya)
The Black Mental Health Program took a dynamic, culturally-responsive approach to programming. Program activities included; mental health literacy trainings, healing & learning spaces, social media campaigns as well as fellowships and spaces dedicated to career exploration & development.
(pictured right, a community health circle in Kenya)
...but there isn't much dedicated to serving Africa & the African diaspora. Because of this, we facilitated co-designed fellowships for young people from Africa and the diaspora who are passionate about mental health and doing things differently. Fellowships under this program were highly individualized, multi-impact experiences.
One standout fellowship was a collaboration with the Alive Again Foundation and it's leader, social worker Wilbroad Kabagambe. Wilbroad continues his work and has made a huge impact on his community in the 8 years since he started this work.
The work continues in our partner communities. We encourage you to to check out the Alive Again Foundation, based in Uganda, who continue doing incredible work to benefit the mental wellbeing of their community.
Created in response to COVID-19, teaching fellows worked with IMHA to design and implement project focused on improving mental well for school-age children during lockdown.
Fellows began by assessing the mental health of their students through phone interviews, confirming the initial hypothesis that student mental health would suffer during lockdown. Next, fellows designed therapeutic activities involving art (pictured left), writing and play that students could engage with from their homes.
Week-by-week, students engaged with activities and fellows completed weekly check-in calls with students to monitor their process. As schools prepared to open again, the fellows wrapped up the project by completed a post-assessment with students and parents, measuring the impact of the interventions on student mental health.
Founded in 2020, The Blue School was
youth-focused, trauma-informed entrepreneurship program in Dhaka, Bangladesh run out of The Tech Academy in partnership with the International Mental Health Association.
