We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gitanjali Nair. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gitanjali below.
Gitanjali, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
As a teenager it has always been difficult to project my ideas and voice into the greater mental health society. Around a year ago, I eventually pursued a dream and took a risk to found my non-profit, EMPATH, empowering minds promoting awareness and teaching healing. The organization was built to support individuals through any phase of their mental health journey and assist them with the resources and materials they need. While the journey to build EMPATH has taken much effort I can proudly say that EMPATH is now a international organization with chapters across three continents and is continuing to grow everyday. Hopefully, EMPATH will continue to assist many individuals through their mental health journeys and inspire more teenagers to voice their opinions and take action for change.
Gitanjali, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I began EMPATH as a means to fight against the exceeding amount of negative content on social media, providing positive reminders and messages to push back against the false marketing and standards. Soon, however, it expanded into much more. EMPATH turned into a non profit that aims to support individuals through their mental health journey and hopefully, one day, globalize the principle of mental health. While the organization has continued to grow internationally one of the most shocking realizations for me was the impact EMPATH has had on my own mental health. As EMPATH expanded it also changed me, made me focus on many aspects of my mental health I was unaware of and helped me provide more accurate support for those who struggled around me. As EMPATH continues to grow, I hope that the stigma around mental health can finally disappear and individuals can go through the same life changing experiences I did through EMPATH.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
One of the greatest difficulties as a teen founder of a non profit is building trust in those who have been in the mental health industry for much longer and have much more experience than I do. However, through various experiences I have learned that easiest way for any teen to coexist with experienced individuals in their field is to understand and respect the knowledge that experience carries while also bringing in new perspectives from a teenage point of view. I believe that this is the most unique way of though EMPATH has to offer. We are an organization built by teens, and run by teens. Our points of view our unique and new and that offers and a bright perspective for the future of mental health. As we continue to grow we hope to work with many more professionals and understand and incorporate their perspectives into our larger ideas.
Any advice for managing a team?
At EMPATH we have an amazing team of truly committed and passionate individuals consisting of our youth ambassadors and executive leadership team. Together they form the backbone of our organization and keep all of our members connected to mental health resources they desire. I believe that the fundamental core of maintaining a passionate team is finding individuals who are as passionate as you about your cause. As teenagers, there is no shortage of individuals who truly hope to make a change in society’s perception of mental health and I am so lucky to have so many of them on our team at EMPATH.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empath501c3_official/profilecard/?igsh=MWk0b2k0eGtydGFmaw==
- Other: Membership: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcnVuLTGGSqj8Q4QE2E9Ulbh2aMwQB50ZqvKifkrE8DN83sA/viewform
