Mental Health America Young Leaders Council 2027
The Mental Health America Young Leaders Council 2027 is a paid nine-month advocacy cohort for young adults aged 18 to 25, and MHA takes only five people into it. Members run from September 2026 to May 2027, meet monthly for 90 minutes with experts, co-create a capstone project together, and attend and speak at the Mental Health America Conference in Washington DC on 8 and 9 October 2026, with travel and lodging covered. Each member receives a $2,000 stipend. The 2026-2027 council has a specific brief: financial well-being and access to meaningful work that builds social connection, agency and pathways for the future. MHA frames the problem with hard numbers, noting that almost 12 per cent of US youth are not in education, employment or training and 41 per cent of recent college graduates are underemployed, with the cost of living, shifting routes into credentialing, and AI reshaping entry-level jobs all pressing on young adults' mental health. What the council wants is lived, practical experience rather than credentials. No degree, no GPA and no enrolment are required. What matters is that you have led or worked inside something real at the intersection of jobs, money and youth mental health, whether that is an apprenticeship scheme, a job-training programme with mental health support built in, a barbershop or bakery employing young people leaving the juvenile justice system, or research on supported employment. Applications close Friday 28 August 2026, with selection decisions by Friday 4 September 2026.
What is the Mental Health America Young Leaders Council 2027?
The Mental Health America Young Leaders Council 2027 is a paid nine-month cohort for young adults aged 18 to 25 who have already built something in their own communities, and MHA is taking exactly five people. Applications close Friday 28 August 2026 and decisions land a week later, on 4 September, which makes this one of the fastest turnarounds you will find on a national programme. Members get a $2,000 stipend, monthly sessions with experts, a capstone project they design together, and a speaking slot at the Mental Health America Conference in Washington DC on 8 and 9 October 2026 with travel and lodging paid.
Each council year has a theme, and the 2026-2027 one is money and work: financial well-being, and access to meaningful jobs that build social connection, agency and a route forward. MHA is blunt about why. Almost 12 per cent of US youth are not in education, employment or training. Forty-one per cent of recent college graduates are underemployed. Cost of living keeps climbing, the paths into credentials keep shifting, and artificial intelligence is quietly hollowing out the entry-level jobs young people used to start on. All of that lands on young adults' mental health, and the cohort's job over nine months is to investigate it, inform people about it, and advocate for things that work.
What MHA is actually screening for is worth being clear about, because it is not what scholarship applicants expect. No degree. No GPA. No enrolment. No transcript, no references, no citizenship paperwork. The application asks for your city and state, your contact details, and three questions answered in 250 to 500 words total or a video under five minutes. What decides it is whether you have been inside real work at the intersection of jobs, money and youth mental health. MHA's own examples range widely: a state pathways-to-employment initiative, an apprenticeship with mental health support built in, a bakery or barbershop employing young people leaving the juvenile justice system, a research team studying supported employment. Community outreach roles, advisory board seats and combined job-training programmes have all produced past members.
Two practical notes and one piece of encouragement. First, MHA says plainly that applications failing to address all three questions will not be considered, so a short answer to every question beats a beautiful answer to two. Second, if your application leans on an organisation you work with, the form requires you to confirm its leaders know you applied and are open to being featured in the cohort's work, so have that conversation this week rather than after you submit. The encouragement is MHA's own, printed on the application page: many of its youth leaders almost did not apply because they were not sure they were qualified. Five places against a national field is competitive, but the bar is experience rather than credentials. For other US programmes on the same shelf, the GWI Scholars Program 2027 guide covers a tuition-free finance track with a paid internship, and the HP Social Media Marketing course guide covers free skills training with a certificate. Everything current for this cycle sits on the MHA Young Leaders Council application page.
Eligibility
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✓Aged 18 to 25The Young Leaders Council is built for young adults aged 18 to 25, and MHA states that band in every description of the programme. Under-18s should look at MHA's other youth initiatives instead. Age is checked at application, not at the September start, so a 25-year-old applying now is inside the window.
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✓Direct experience at the intersection of work and youth mental healthMHA wants applicants with real involvement in programmes supporting employment, financial well-being and mental health for young people. Its own examples include state and local pathways-to-employment initiatives, apprenticeships or job-training programmes with mental health support built in, businesses such as bakeries or barbershops employing young people leaving the juvenile justice system, and research on supported employment for young adults with mental health or substance use conditions.
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✓Based in the United StatesThe application form makes city and state required fields, with a dropdown covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia, so the council is built for US-based young leaders. No citizenship test, visa status question or residency documentation appears anywhere in the application, and the five places are not allocated by state.
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✓Available for the full nine-month termThe term runs September 2026 to May 2027 with monthly 90-minute virtual meetings, so the commitment is real but light: roughly nine sessions plus capstone work spread across the academic year. Anyone who cannot hold that calendar alongside a job or study schedule should apply in a later cycle rather than drop out mid-term.
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✓Able to travel to Washington DC in October 2026Members attend and speak at the Mental Health America Conference in Washington DC on 8 and 9 October 2026, with travel and lodging covered by MHA. Speaking is part of the role rather than optional, so factor in two days away roughly five weeks after you are notified.
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✓All three application questions answeredMHA says outright that applications which do not address all three questions will not be considered. Written responses run 250 to 500 words in total across the three, or you can answer by video of no more than five minutes. Bulleted answers are accepted. Skipping a question is the fastest way out of the pool.
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✓Organisational sign-off if you are applying through a programmeIf you apply in connection with a programme, organisation, business or initiative, MHA requires confirmation that its leaders know about your application and are open to being featured as part of the cohort's work. The form asks this as a required yes-or-no question, with applying as an individual as the alternative, so have that conversation before you submit.
Benefits
- Stipend $2,000 for the nine-month term
- Conference travel and lodging Covered by MHA for Washington DC, 8-9 October 2026
- Speaking slot Members attend and speak at the Mental Health America Conference
- Monthly expert sessions 90-minute virtual meetings across the nine-month term
- Capstone project Co-created with the cohort from the monthly sessions
- National amplification Work shared through MHA's partners and affiliate network
- Alumni impact network MHA youth programme graduates, with ongoing training
- Tuition, fees or academic credit Not offered, this is not a course or a degree programme
- Salary or employment Not offered, the $2,000 is a stipend for a volunteer council role
- Term length Nine months, September 2026 to May 2027
- Cohort size Five young adult leaders selected
- 2026-2027 focus Financial well-being and access to meaningful work
- What the cohort does Investigate, inform and advocate on youth employment and well-being
- Meeting format Virtual, monthly, 90 minutes, plus the DC conference in person
- Decision date Applicants notified by Friday 4 September 2026
- A full-time role No, the commitment is monthly sessions plus capstone work
- Relocation to Washington DC Not required, only the two-day October conference
Document checklist
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✓Contact and location detailsName, email, city, state and phone number, all required on the form. The state dropdown covers the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nothing here needs uploading, but have the details to hand since the form is submitted in one pass.
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✓Three-question response, written or on videoWhy new approaches to employment and work matter for youth mental health, what programmes or initiatives you have led or worked in at that intersection, and your future goals for that work. Written answers total 250 to 500 words across all three. Video answers run to a maximum of five minutes. Bulleted answers are fine.
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✓Video hosting link, if you answer on videoMHA prefers YouTube or Google Drive links for video submissions, and the form has a dedicated field for the link alongside a file upload option with a 256 MB ceiling. Check your sharing permissions before submitting, since a private link reads as a missing answer.
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✓Programme impact details in question twoQuestion two asks for specifics: what the programme is, who it serves, and what it achieved. A policy initiative, a training programme, a nonprofit, a research project or something else entirely all count. Concrete numbers and outcomes matter more here than job titles.
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✓Supporting documents or linksOptional but worth including. Blogs, websites, news articles, social media accounts and academic papers tied to the work you described all help. The form has one main upload plus two additional optional file slots and a free-text field for relevant links.
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✓Confirmation that programme leaders know you appliedA required yes-or-no field. Answer yes if your organisation's leaders are aware and open to being featured in the cohort's work, or select the option confirming you are applying as an individual. Either answer is acceptable, but the question cannot be skipped.
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✓Optional identity and affiliation selectionsThe form invites you to note which groups you identify with, including lived experience of mental health challenges or substance use, family member, LGBTQ+, veteran, student, disabled, and several race and ethnicity options, with a free-text alternative. Every one of these is optional and used for cohort composition, not screening.
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✓Anything else you want consideredA final open field for extra personal statements, references, links or, in MHA's own words, fun facts. Use it if something material about your work does not fit the three questions. Leaving it blank is not held against you.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
What is the Mental Health America Young Leaders Council?
The Young Leaders Council is Mental Health America's youth advocacy cohort, made up of young people aged 18 to 25 who have built programmes and initiatives filling gaps in mental health support in their own communities. MHA convenes the council to provide professional and personal development, and to co-create projects that push youth perspectives into national mental health conversations. Each cohort runs for nine months around a single theme, and members work through monthly expert sessions towards a capstone project.
Who is eligible for the MHA Young Leaders Council 2027?
You need to be 18 to 25 and have direct experience with programmes supporting employment, financial well-being and mental health among young people. No degree, GPA, enrolment status or citizenship documentation is required anywhere in the application. MHA's own examples of relevant experience include state and local employment pathway initiatives, apprenticeships and job-training programmes with mental health support built in, businesses employing young people leaving the juvenile justice system, and research teams working on supported employment. The form requires a US city and state, so the council is built for US-based applicants.
Is the MHA Young Leaders Council paid?
Yes. Every member receives a $2,000 stipend for the nine-month term, and MHA covers travel and lodging for the Mental Health America Conference in Washington DC on 8 and 9 October 2026. Treat it as a stipend for a part-time volunteer council role rather than a salary: the commitment is monthly 90-minute virtual meetings plus capstone work and the two-day conference, not a job.
When is the Young Leaders Council 2026-2027 application deadline?
Applications are due Friday 28 August 2026, and MHA notifies every applicant of the outcome by Friday 4 September 2026. The term itself starts in September 2026 and runs to May 2027. That is a fast turnaround by scholarship standards, roughly a week from deadline to decision, so keep your October calendar loose while you wait.
How many people are selected for the MHA Young Leaders Council?
Five. MHA selects five young adult leaders aged 18 to 25 for the 2026-2027 council, which makes it genuinely competitive. What tips the balance is not credentials but the range of leadership and experience each applicant brings to the theme, since MHA says it prioritises selecting members with a wide spread of experience across the topic. Applicants who have worked in community education and outreach, served on advisory boards, taken part in combined job-training and mental health programmes, or worked on research teams have all made past cohorts.
What is the time commitment for the Young Leaders Council?
Nine months from September 2026 to May 2027, built around monthly 90-minute virtual meetings where the cohort talks with experts and sets group priorities. On top of that sit the co-created capstone project, which develops out of those sessions, and the two-day Mental Health America Conference in Washington DC in October where members speak. There is no relocation and no full-time element, so the council is designed to fit alongside a job or a degree.
Do you need a degree or to be a student to apply?
No. Neither a degree nor current enrolment is required, and no GPA or transcript appears anywhere in the application. The council reads lived and practical experience instead: what you have built, who it served, and what changed because of it. MHA adds a note to applicants who doubt themselves, saying many of its youth leaders almost did not apply because they were not sure they were qualified. If your work sits on the theme, apply.
What is the focus of the 2026-2027 Young Leaders Council?
Financial well-being and access to meaningful work that builds social connection, agency and pathways for the future. MHA sets the problem out in numbers: almost 12 per cent of US youth are not in education, employment or training, and 41 per cent of recent college graduates are underemployed, with cost of living pressure, shifting routes into credentialing and the effect of artificial intelligence on entry-level jobs all bearing on young adults' mental health. The cohort will investigate, inform and advocate for initiatives that connect employment, financial well-being and mental health for young people.
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