Aditya, Co-Chair
20, Oakville
Aditya Thakur is a 20-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.
Alisha Sharma, Co-Chair
19, Burlington
Alisha Sharma is a 19-year-old from Burlington, Ontario who is passionate about mental health. Advocating for and representing 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, is something that she strives to do. Having been involved with her 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 co-chair of the YAC, Alisha has worked on a multitude of creative projects. From writing the 2021 provincial youth-led policy paper with CMHO, presenting at the CMHO conference, and running EDI and focused events with the wonderful committee, she is excited for another year full of new ideas and perspectives.
Arpit Sharma
18, Burlington
Arpit Sharma is an 18-year-old from Burlington, ON at McMaster University and he is passionate in the advocacy of mental health. He has been involved with The New Mentality since 2019 and then gained the position of Co-Facilitator. He shows intense passion in raising awareness and helping remove barriers for underrepresented racialized individuals in the mental health system. He would like to use his voice to make sure that underrepresented communities are heard and that access to resources is easily accessible to those who need it. Being involved with the Youth Action Committee will help him to make sure that a positive impact is created with the work he does and it will help those who are in need of these resources.
Arwen Cooke
19, Sault Ste. Marie
Hello there! My name is Arwen and I am 19 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!
Crystal Ward
17, Huron Perth County
Hey friends, My name is Crystal! I use she/they pronouns, I’m 17 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 2023!
Diya Mohan
19, 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 twenty 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!
Erin Park
19, Scarborough
Hey! I’m Erin (she/they)! I’m a nineteen 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!
Gin Phillips
20, Sudbury
Hello! I’m Gin (they/them), a 20 year old university student currently in Sudbury. Aspiring to work in the mental health field and studying psychology, mental health has always been a big passion. I’m originally from Kapuskasing, and have participated in as much youth advocacy as I could and can. As an autistic youth of colour it is important for me to see and hear others voices being projected as loudly as possible, and as the world changes I’m hoping to make this possible!
With another chance to be in the Youth Action Committee, I’m hoping to contribute in helping others and even myself. I’m a growing person, in every aspect of my life and this will be another way to better myself and improve where I can
Murphy-Issac Boyse
23, St. Thomas
Hi, I’m Murphy-Issac (they/he). I’m 23 years old and have been involved in equity advocacy for 9 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.
Saumya Arora
22, Toronto
I’m Saumya, currently 22 and on my way to becoming a teacher. I first started working with The New Mentality during my undergraduate degree and love being a part of this diverse group of youth advocates who are working so hard to make tangible change. As a future teacher I believe strongly in the value of having diverse mental health supports that can be accessed by all youth, and I want to use my time at The New Mentality to both push for that and also learn more about mental health so I can support my peers and future students!
We are so excited to have such incredible advocates from across Ontario joining our 2023 Youth Action Committee! To learn more about the Youth Action Committee click here.
