Resources
Mental Health Funding Priorities
With an urgent focus on youth, our Flourish Together initiative is focused on three priorities to align and catalyze mental health philanthropy
From Crisis to Opportunity
1 in 4 people experience a mental health condition, yet less than 2% of U.S. philanthropy supports mental health — creating both urgency and opportunity for a shift from awareness to aligned action.
After five years engaging stakeholders, Mindful Philanthropy is uplifting three interconnected strategic priorities to align mental health philanthropy: Youth, Community, and Workforce.
Our ongoing initiative to champion these funding priorities launched in 2025 as Flourish Together: Bold Solutions for Mental Health.
Flourish Together Priorities
Youth & Their Support Systems
Philanthropic investment in youth mental health is growing but funding remains fragmented and misaligned with what youth and families say they need. With greater clarity, coordination, and commitment, philanthropy can help convert momentum into meaningful, sustained impact.
Explore: The Upstream Philanthropic Blueprint for Youth Mental Health, part of our evolving Flourish Together series.
Community Well-Being
There is substantial evidence supporting approaches to build connection in communities and to leverage connection as treatment. Organizations are poised to scale these models. Philanthropic investment can fundamentally transform how people access mental health support, experience belonging, and build networks of care.
Behavioral Health Workforce
Improving access and quality to mental health care requires addressing structural barriers to career entry and retention, inefficient workforce deployment, and lack of innovation in workforce models. Now is the time for bold, coordinated investments, with a lens toward long-term systems change.
Blueprints for Action
Each of the three interconnected mental health priorities and the youth focus areas will be guided by blueprints and resources that will cover key elements:
Ecosystem Maps – Investment entry points and key players
Strategic Roadmaps – Clear cases, theories of change, and avenues to impact
Portfolios of Solutions – Opportunities for investment and bold bets across levers for impact
Evaluation Frameworks – Co-created goals specific to each youth focus area
Explore the latest Flourish Together Blueprint
The Upstream Philanthropic Blueprint for Youth Mental Health
Published May 21, 2026
This is the first report in the Flourish Together series and outlines the youth mental health priority.
Youth mental health does not begin in crisis. It develops over time through relationships, environments, connection, and opportunities to grow. Yet today, most systems remain organized around responding after distress escalates rather than investing earlier in the conditions that help young people flourish.
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