Hodan Mohamud, Co-Chair
24, Mississauga
Hodan (she/her) is passionate about mental health advocacy, youth engagement, and health equity. She envisions a mental health system where youth across Ontario have equitable access to mental health services that meet their diverse needs. Hodan hopes to use her position on the committee to help elevate the voices of youth across Ontario.
Aditya Thakur, Co-Chair
19, Oakville
Aditya Thakur is an 19-year-old from Oakville, Ontario and a student at Western University. He has been actively involved with Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO) and The New Mentality’s youth engagement initiatives since 2018. He has leveraged opportunities to represent youth and voice their issues in the community. He shows tremendous passion for promoting equity in the mental health system and raising awareness for underprivileged youth. Aditya was a keynote speaker and panelist at the CMHO Annual conference in 2020 and in 2021, and had the opportunity to speak to mental health professionals about leadership equity. He has also advocated for youth mental health during the pandemic and is researching the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health. Aditya is committed to making a difference in the lives of children and adolescents by raising awareness about mental health issues and stigma surrounding mental illness.
Nneoma Achioso
23, London
Hi my name is Nneoma Achioso. I’m 23 years old and currently reside in London, Ontario finishing up my undergrad degree at Western University. It has only been a few years since I discovered that I have a strong passion for mental health. I realized mental health is something I want to not only learn more about, but I also want to contribute to breaking down the walls of stigma surrounding it. In recent years, I have also gained some lived experience with witnessing how the various aspects of the mental health system work, and sometimes not always for the best interest of the patient, specifically those from BIPOC community. As a black woman, I can understand how intersecting identities can disproportionately impact access to services and result in differential treatment by healthcare providers.
Being a part of the Youth Action Committee provides me with the opportunity to be a voice for my fellow BIPOC, while tackling the complex issues within our child and youth mental health system. I hope through our policy work we can commence the start to a more equitable and accessible mental health system for all youth.
Erin Park
18, Scarborough
Hey! I’m Erin (she/they)! I’m an eighteen year old youth advocate who is working to dismantle barriers for racialized, queer, and disabled youth accessing the mental health system. I draw from my own lived experience of growing up in low-income, immigrant communities to tackle the system inequities that still plague the mental health sector. Getting other youth involved in policy making and other forms of advocacy work is super important to me, and being able to work with the YAC to lead the way for other amazing youth is a privilege. The creativity, hard work, and of course, youthful charm of our YAC is what makes us so impactful, and I hope to keep bringing good energy for this upcoming policy term!
Saumya Arora
21, Richmond Hill
Hi, I’m Saumya (she/her), and I’m a 21 year old university student, creative writer, and aspiring teacher based out of Richmond Hill. After becoming involved in conversations about mental health during my time at university, I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of The New Mentality at Lumenus Community Services in Toronto for two years. It is important to me to destigmatize mental illness and open up conversations about mental health in my community. I firmly believe that everyone deserves to receive the mental healthcare they require regardless of status or circumstance and am excited to contribute to the Youth Action Committee this year!
Gin Phillips
19, Kapuskasing
Hello, my name is Gin (although most may be familiar with Chy)! Properly going by they/them, I’m nineteen and aiming for a degree in psychology. I’m a youth advocate that’s been participating in the New Mentality since I was fifteen, and advocating for longer. I have particularly strong feelings regarding mental health and racial equality since both have always directly affected my life, and hope to use my experience to boost and help others, using my voice to make sure everyone within our communities is heard, and given an opportunity to speak. It’s important that cultural awareness is spread and resources are more accessible in a way that’s best fit for those with much different experiences. My goal is to create even the slightest difference and shed a much better light on the inequities of our youth, and the YAC seems like a perfect place to start.
Arwen Cooke
18, Sault Ste. Marie
Hello there! My name is Arwen and I am 18 years old! I tend to flip flop around in what pronouns I use but They/Them is always fine. I am a youth from a city in northern Ontario called Sault Ste Marie. I am also an Anishnaabe from Biigtigong Nishnabeg (Heron Bay), a small reserve north of Sault Ste Marie. I’m an artist with my specific passion being in illustration but I also have an appreciation for youth engagement.
Being a youth of colour, specifically as an Anishnaabe, I have long since struggled with my mental health from early in my childhood. My mother always pushed for me to be able to achieve more in my life so we moved away when I was young, but I knew individuals suffering from serious mental health deficiencies that children as young as four should not have had to struggle with. We up in the north and especially those in small reserves have low access to mental health related services and low opportunity to speak our minds or even develop opinions on mental health services. It’s always been very stigmatised and hush hush to have mental health issues and services catered to an audience that didn’t serve our needs. Those things stuck with me which has been my recent passion in terms of mental health advocacy; BIPOC youths mental health and their access to services regardless of where they live, whether they are in crisis or not, and that they deserve services catered to their needs. I hope to put my skills and passion to use as well as make some new friends along the way. I can’t wait to begin this year strong with you all!
Alisha Sharma
18, Burlington
Alisha Sharma is an 18-year-old from Burlington, Ontario who is passionate about mental health. Particularly advocating for and representing BIPOC youth voices within Ontario’s publicly funded mental health system, as well as creating projects to engage with the provincial youth community to raise awareness. Having been involved with the local New Mentality group of Halton since high school, then moving into the position of a co-facilitator and now to her current position as a member of the YAC, Alisha has worked on creative projects from social media interaction on Instagram, hosting and creating a podcast, and even being involved with the TNM Disable the Label Hosting Team to create an exceptional event centred around mental health for youth across the province. This summer, she had the opportunity to get behind the scenes with her advocacy and interned with Children’s Mental Health Ontario as a policy writer to write the YAC’s fourth policy paper on BIPOC youth voices in the mental health system. This paper was then presented at the CMHO conference with other YAC members. As a member of the YAC for a second year, Alisha hopes to further promote YAC projects, and work on ways to engage with the youth across the province, all the while making a change that will spark a new era.
Gregory Doucet
18, Vaughan
My name is Gregory and I am 18 years old. I live in Vaughan, Ontario and I am a strong advocate for children and their well-being. In particular, I focus on those who are often underrepresented in society, such as those with visible or invisible disabilities, and multicultural individuals. I am a part of the Youth Action Committee as I want to give a voice to those who currently aren’t able to advocate for change. Those who struggle with health related issues, whether they are solely related to mental health, or are intertwined with their physical health, everyone deserves the best support possible. I firmly believe that regardless of the perceived competency of a youth, they deserve to have their opinion heard and accounted for when making decisions that may impact them.
Diya Mohan
18, Scarborough
Hello! I’m Diya Mohan (they/them) and I’m a youth advocate and leader in the mental health system currently in Scarborough, Ontario. I’ll be eighteen this October, and I started volunteering at my local youth hub in freshman year, focusing on targeting systemic gaps affecting racialized youth in the community. As a leader of my own New Mentality group, part of the Provincial Youth Advisory Council, and a youth representative in the Advisory Board for our youth hub- I hold positions to speak for my lived experience as a POC in a low-income household and host a voice for a demographic that is underserved in the mental health system. After years of being part of the system, witnessing and experiencing the biases and discomfort surrounding race and culture, I am devoted to making the system more accessible, aware, and socially responsible. I’m invested in intersectional identities, such as BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ communities being prioritized and met with an equally beneficial experience with the services and systems offered currently. I hope to make and see change by being part of the YAC, and am so happy to have the opportunity to do so!
Crystal Ward
16, Huron Perth County
Hey friends, My name is Crystal! I use she/they pronouns, I’m 16 and currently located in a small town near Stratford. I have been a part of The New Mentality since November 2020 with my TNM group – New Horizons. But I’ve also been actively a part of my school board’s mental health initiatives, As well as with my school’s GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance)! My intentions with the work I do is to drive change within the mental health system, which ranges from 2SLGBTQ+ work as a queer youth to sharing my experiences within the system to help prevent tough experiences for others in the future. I believe that every voice matters and deserves to be heard, to create a more accepting and safe environment for all within the mental health system!
Other than my volunteer work I’m an avid artist who loves listening to music! I most often use watercolour, digital imaging, and photography when doing art. I listen to all genres of music but I prefer punk rock and pop music! I can’t wait to start this new adventure with this amazing network and beyond with being a part of the YAC of 2022!
Murphy-Issac Boyse
22, St. Thomas
Hi, I’m Murphy-Issac (they/he). I’m 22 years old and have been involved in equity advocacy for 8 years, primarily focused on queer and mental health advocacy. I’m a proud Hufflepuff, and as such I strongly believe in hardwork, kindness, justice, laughter and loyalty. My passion is driven by the positive impact youth engagement and equity work has on communities that I have had the privilege of witnessing and taking part in. I hope my work through the YAC can spread this positive impact to the larger youth community and pave the way for future youth leaders who are just now beginning their advocacy journey.
Eric Hendrick
19, St. Thomas
Hi my name is Eric!! My pronouns are He/Him/His. I am 19 years old and I have been on youth engagement committees for the past 5 years! I believe in using my outgoing and fearless personality to be a voice for youth across the board, I realized that some youth don’t have the resources or the contacts to voice their concerns and I want to be able to build my personal tool belt to help others build their own! In September I started my first year of the Child and Youth Care program and I have never been more excited. I can’t wait to work closely with youth to start a change.
We are so excited to have such incredible advocates from across Ontario joining our 2022 Youth Action Committee! To learn more about the Youth Action Committee click here.
