AIM Youth Mental Health
We envision a world of mentally healthy youth.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
We have all been touched in some way by the heartbreaking realities of youth mental health. The truth is it’s a growing epidemic with 1 in 5 children, teens, and young adults struggling with their mental health. Yet there is a stigma around the topic. We AIM to stop the silence around youth mental health by raising awareness and funding groundbreaking research, so we can begin to find real solutions with immediate impacts. Because the health of our youth is the health of our future.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Research
We find and fund the most promising youth mental health research in the world to help kids now. AIM is not disorder or institution-specific, which means that we fund research of the most innovative treatments for all mental disorders in youth, and find the best, cutting-edge research teams and individuals, regardless of where they are based. Through strategic vetting and funding of clinical research to find solutions for mental health challenges, AIM Youth Mental Health is helping kids today.
Awareness
Through our AIM for Awareness Programs, we connect with and empower children, families, educators, mental health practitioners, and mental health researchers. We are raising awareness and empathy and providing resources through our annual Walk and Rallies, Scientific Symposiums, and Ad Contests for students. We are building a movement with a positive, forward-thinking focus.
AIM Ideas Lab
While elevating the voices of youth in mental health issues plaguing them and their peers, the AIM Ideas Lab fosters students' entrepreneurial and collaborative thinking around the most pressing issues in youth mental health -- making youth a part of the solution. The AIM Ideas Lab is designed to serve the dual purposes of prevention and education of mental health challenges in our school-aged youth with an emphasis on evidenced-based solutions to the growing mental health crisis in the wake of COVID. The AIM Ideas Lab involves extensive and targeted engagement with high school students, as well as teaching and support staff in Monterey County and Santa Cruz Counties of California. Led by a team of educators, therapists, and youth mental health researchers, the AIM Ideas Lab youth participants are well-supported in an emotionally safe, empowering, and inspiring environment.
Youth Mental Health First Aid
AIM Youth Mental Health is offering Youth Mental Health First Aid Training and Certification to help parents, teachers, counselors, and other caring adults create a county-wide "safe holding place" for youth struggling with their mental health.
The on-line course consists of 2 hours of self-paced content and 5 hours of instructor led training. Upon completion, adults are certified as Youth Mental Health First Aiders, empowered with tools and strategies to support youth struggling with mental health challenges and crises.
Where we work
Awards
Organization of the Year 2018
Carmel Chamber of Commerce
Award 2022
Monterey County Chamber of Commerce
Affiliations & memberships
Organization of the Year - Carmel Rotary 2018
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of children able to exercise appropriate control in independent and group activities
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Family relationships, People with other disabilities, People with psychosocial disabilities
Related Program
Research
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
AIM funding research pilots engage children, youth and young adults in mental health treatment trials helping them exercise emotional control.
Number of people who received clinical mental health care
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Family relationships
Related Program
Research
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
AIM funded research opens access to clinical mental health care for children, teens and young adults and those who love and care for them.
Number of research studies conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Family relationships, Ethnic and racial groups, Health, Gender and sexual identity
Related Program
Research
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
AIM is/has investing/ed in 12 ground-breaking youth mental health research studies and programs to treat anxiety, depression, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, suicide, mood disregulation etc.
Number of students enrolled in service-learning courses
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Health, Social and economic status
Related Program
AIM Ideas Lab
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
The AIM Design Challenge engages middle and high school students in expressive arts as a medium for expression about youth mental health challenges.
Number of students with good social and leadership skills and self-discipline
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Health, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
Awareness
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Youth from diverse backgrounds and experiences engage in presentations of art projects focussed on youth mental health at art galleries and public exhibits.
Number of teachers trained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
AIM Ideas Lab
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
AIM trains caring adults in Youth Mental Health First Aid giving them the skills and knowledge to respond and provide on-going support to youth suffering a mental health challenge or crisis.
Number of children who have the ability to seek help from and respond appropriately to adults
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
AIM Ideas Lab
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
200 AIM trained Youth Mental Health First Aiders are able to provide life-saving support children, teens and young adults experiencing a mental health challenge or crisis.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
AIM Youth Mental Health's broad goals are to:
1. To improve the quality, consistency, and accessibility of evidence-based treatments that address youth mental health challenges by funding and publishing research, protocols, and meta-analyses.
2. To raise the general level of knowledge about youth mental health and the role of finding and funding promising research to drive solutions among internal and external stakeholders including the community at large.
AIM Youth Mental Health Ideas Lab goal is for youth from diverse backgrounds and experiences to discover solutions to their own mental challenges and drive the next phase of youth mental health research, treatments, and solutions. The program AIMs to engage, train, and empower youth from socioeconomic and cultural groups across the US to confidently represent one of the most pressing issues facing youth today: their own mental health and wellbeing. AIM brings hope, as youth from diverse backgrounds and experiences:
1. Become trained youth mental health ambassadors, able to identify key issues and solutions related to emerging and burgeoning youth mental health challenges.
2. Conduct their own qualitative (talk with your peers) and quantitative (survey your peers) research mentored by world-renowned youth mental health researchers.
3. Collect, compare, and analyze their own research with the findings of cohorts of youth from across the country, and publish their collective work in a scholarly journal.
4. Bring the youth voice to the table by presenting their ideas, research and recommendations via traditional and social media, public and online presentations for professional conferences, public policy hearings, etc.
5. Drive the next phase of investments in youth mental health research by reviewing funding applications and making recommendations to the AIM Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for the most impactful youth mental health research for the future.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
AIM Ideas Lab Coaches (adult mentors: educators, therapists and facilitators) support AIM Ideas Lab Ambassadors (youth participants) in reaching more than 10,000 youth across the country. To achieve the goals described above, the AIM Ideas Lab engages in following specific activities over a 12-month period:
Months 1 - 2
1. Recruit and train educators, therapists, and facilitators as AIM Ideas Lab Coaches:
a. 2 Master-Level Educators (one bilingual) with experience in service learning, adolescent development, social/emotional learning, and psychological safety protocols for high school students. These lead educators guide program development, liaise with education partners, and oversee the AIM Ideas Lab program.
b. 3 Licensed Therapists (1 bilingual) to ensure program best practices in supporting the emotional safety of all youth participants. A therapist meet with each of the 100 - 120 groups of 10 - 15 youth participants to learn about emotional triggers and issues that may come up for them during the program.
c. 20 Group Facilitators (5 bilingual) to guide respectful Socratic dialogues in Ideas Lab (small group) sessions. Through AIM’s partnership with the High School Ethics Bowl and other youth-serving organizations, AIM selects 20 facilitators experienced in engaging high school students in meaningful dialogue.
2. The AIM Ideas Lab Coaches Identify and connect with a minimum of 50 school districts and youth organizations representing various geographic, economic, cultural, linguistic, and social groups across the US.
Months 3 - 5
1. The AIM Ideas Lab Coaches oversee the recruitment and selection of 50-75 AIM Ideas Lab Ambassadors (youth participants) from each school and/or youth organization to reach a minimum of 1,000 Ambassadors.
2. The Meeting of the Minds: The AIM Ideas Lab Coaches conduct 10 two-hour, virtual meetings, each with 100 AIM Ideas Lab Youth Ambassadors, to learn about the program, how to conduct their own research, and discover why their expertise can help drive the next phase of scientific research and treatments for youth mental health. Topics include:
a. Introduction to the Ideas Lab and their role as experts representing the diverse youth voice
b. The importance of research in youth mental health, how research drives available treatments
c. The process of gathering qualitative and quantitative information from peers
3. Assignment of Ideas Lab Teams Given that The AIM Ideas Lab is a virtual experience, the 1,000 AIM Ideas Lab
Months 6 - 9
1. Assignment of AIM Ideas Lab Facilitators and Scheduling of the Labs
a. Ideas Lab 1: The youth participants will join teams of 10 youth and two AIM facilitators to engage in a series of two-hour Socratic discourse sessions.
Months 10 - 12
1. Dissemination of findings: Ideas Lab youth will present their recommendations via webinars, social media, panel presentations, YouTube video interviews, graphic imagery, and printed material distribution.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
True to its mission "to build a movement devoted to the mental health of children, teens and young adults," AIM is funding and supporting multiple promising discoveries that are leading to better treatments for youth struggling with their mental health. Through the unparalleled dedication of the AIM Board of Directors, the AIM Scientific Advisory Board, and a growing team of professional staff, AIM’s programs now have the potential to reach every child in the US with equitable access to innovative mental health treatments where and when they need it.
The AIM Ideas Lab
Using a "Nothing About Us Without Us'' approach, the AIM Ideas Lab provides a safe platform for diverse groups of youth, organized throughout the country, to discover solutions to their own mental challenges and drive the next phase of youth mental health research, treatments, and solutions. The AIM Ideas Lab is a culturally responsive, project-based Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program that inspires teens to explore youth mental health solutions. YPAR addresses the root causes of problems and works to transform the quality of each person’s life, the environment, the community, and society as a whole. Through ongoing exploration, reflection, and action; youth researchers, organizers, and community members build community, celebrate successes, and troubleshoot challenges.
AIM Beyond COVID Program to support taking treatments virtual, reaching larger populations through telehealth and digital medicine. Highlights include:
1. Development of free, technology-delivered intervention (TDI) for youth anxiety used within formal mentoring programs like and including Big Brothers Big Sisters.
2. A collaborative eating disorders program to extend treatments using telemedicine to young people in their homes.
3. Providing youth with mindfulness skills using smartphone devices to help them disengage from patterns of overthinking to reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms concurrently.
4. Using a smartphone application to detect suicide risk in the moment and give students immediate tools and tips to help them relax, reflect, and stave off suicide attempts and self-harm.
AIM drives discussion and advocacy through Community Awareness and Ambassador programs and expands access to evidence-based solutions to reach youth in need through the AIM research programs.
With a growing mental health crisis, AIM has developed community engagement programs to
raise awareness about youth mental health including:
1. The AIM for Awareness Walk & Rally, providing a fair of mental health resources.
2. The AIM Design Challenge for Middle and High School students, which has seen thousands of entries, fostering a positive venue for youth to explore what mental health means to them, and a
3. platform free of stigma for teachers and parents to start the conversation about the importance of mental wellness.
4. The AIM Scientific Symposium
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Toward Goal 1:To improve the quality, consistency, and accessibility of evidence-based treatments that address youth mental health challenges by funding and publishing research, protocols, and meta-analyses, AIM has invested nearly $4M in clinical youth mental health research like Dr. Barbara Cornblatt’s Recognition and Prevent (RAP) program, which provides early intervention for at-risk teens. Because of AIM, this program will soon be available to adolescents nationwide. Drs. Walter Kaye and James Lock are expanding access to evidence-based treatments for eating disorders via telehealth. AIM has and is currently supporting solutions to anxiety, depression, suicide, bipolar disorder and others, with treatments now being piloted and data collected and shared.
Toward Goal 2: To raise the general knowledge and reduce the stigma associated with youth mental health, for the past 3 years, more than 400 students from all over the United States participated by designing an ad to raise awareness for youth mental health; we were impressed by the creativity and courage they put into their work. AIM alongside volunteering community members selected 15 individual ads to receive recognition for their artistic expression, and were given an award for their being selected as a winner in the ad contest categories.
All the entries were on display in exhibits and receptions including the Carmel Sunset Cultural Center in October 2019 and the other at the CSUMB Salinas City Center in March 2020. The winners were honored at these community events, where we heard from local leaders and the winning students on the importance of mental health and how to support the mental and emotional well-being of our community’s youth.
Toward Goal 3: For youth from diverse backgrounds and experiences to discover solutions to their own mental challenges and drive the next phase of youth mental health research, treatments, and solutions, the first pilot of the AIM Ideas Lab engaging 250 high school students in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties to help us uncover and effectively address emerging youth mental health issues and treatments. We anticipate reaching more than 1,000 students in 2021/22, and expanding the program to reach 10,000 annually thereafter.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
AIM Youth Mental Health
Board of directorsas of 10/27/2022
JD Susan Stilwell
Stilwell Inc.
Term: 2016 - 2022
Jessica Canning
Canning Properties Group
William J. Hill
Sentry Alarm Systems
Dean Maynard
The Maynard Group
Tara Ryan
Swrve
Paul Roshka
Attorney at Law
Hon. Stephanie Hulsey
Judge
Cynthia Trochu
Texas Instruments
Lou Pambiaco
Startup Sandbox
William Duffy
Sports Agent
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/05/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.