Behind the scenes at YouTube Health’s first ever Mental Health Summit

On October 8, 2024, YouTube Health hosted over 100 creators and partners for our first-ever Mental Health Summit. Our goal for this event was to showcase and solidify YouTube as the destination for high-quality mental health content, community, and belonging.

The Summit brought together clinicians, mental health advocates, and creators, for a day focused on increasing awareness of YouTube's latest efforts to make mental health content accessible to all through video. Our goal was to spotlight health organizations leaning in across YouTube, empower creators to press publish on supportive and engaging mental health content, and provide a space for the wider mental health ecosystem to connect and collaborate.

As a Senior Strategic Partner Manager for YouTube Health, I'm thrilled to take you behind the scenes of the Summit - the work that went into it before and all the excitement the day of.

Monday, October 7th

11:00AM - Like many big events, things really kick into gear the day before to bring the vision to life - our summit is no different! Me and my teammates head to the office to pick up supplies like swag and signage. Moving it all from our Manhattan office to the event space in Brooklyn will be a feat.

1:00PM - I stop by the Sound Mind Center (SMC), to finally see the space in person for the first time. It's stunning. The natural light and playlist over the speakers, *chef's kiss*. YouTube Health partners with Sound Mind Live throughout the year on different initiatives, but this has been a fresh way to collaborate by hosting the Summit at their new event space in Brooklyn.

3:00PM ♟️- Set up commences! Some colleagues and I will be at the SMC for a couple of hours working with vendors to build out the space. No task is too small- the YouTube Health team is laying out the chairs! It's crazy that you can take a blank canvas (or open-plan event space) and build something from the ground up.

Tuesday, October 8th

6:00AM - TODAY IS SUMMIT DAY After months of work, we made it! Thankfully I don't feel jet-lagged, but let's check-in in a few hours, it's a FULL day.

9:00AM - The first guests have started arriving. The room is starting to fill with a diverse set of members from across the mental health ecosystem: Creators, academics, and health institutions, all coming together for a day of community building, collaborating, learning more about YouTube Health, and exploring ways to lean in on YouTube.

10:15AM - And we're off! Our emcee, my fellow YouTube Health Strategic Partner Manager, Ariel Altman, is ushering everyone to their seats ahead of the welcome by Dr. Renee Schneider, a Clinical Lead at Google.

11:30AM ⛑️- It's been a jam-packed morning already, and we're only just getting started. The Director of YouTube Health, Dr. Garth Graham (my manager, great dude) presented on how the foundation for health content on YouTube is rooted in responsibility. "We're here because we share a common goal: connecting people with the health information they need to live their best lives. And in today's digital age, that means ensuring that the information they find online is accurate, trustworthy, and accessible."

Another fellow Strategic Partner Manager, Nathalie Graves, talked about the many product features on YouTube that support a viewer's mental health journey, including crisis resource panels, personal stories shelves, and our health content shelves and information labels. Nathalie also shared our collaboration with ThroughLine, the largest verified network of mental health and crisis helplines around the world.

From there we switched gears and spotlighted health creators and organizations in the room.

Sound Mind Live took us through their live streaming efforts and how they're able to reach more people via YouTube. The National Alliance of Eating Disorders talked about why partnerships matter and their YouTube creator training. The Child Mind Institute hosted a panel and explained how the organization involves youth at every stage of mental health content creation, digital product development, and research; it's fascinating. Each presenter has weaved their own journey and personal experiences with mental health into their sessions, adding a richness to what's being shared.

2:15PM - YouTube Creator and ice cream extraordinaire, Dylan Lemay, sat down with my teammate Lana Garrett for a fireside chat speaking to the importance of sharing your story and how he navigates his mental health journey. The Creators in the room resonated with his tips and tricks as to how he manages to share his mental health journey with his audience in a way that feels appropriately vulnerable and authentic. The team at Happy Jack Entertainment brought the energy with a live version of their podcast, Therapy Sessions.

3:30PM - The Jed Foundation's panel on athletes, mental health, and storytelling was game-changing. Intersectional work is powerful, showing us the depth and range of being human. They even announced the launch of a new YouTube docuseries,Invisible Game, featuring intergenerational conversations with top athletes about life, mental health, and staying on top of their game.

6:30PM - And just like that it's over and we're out of the building. On behalf of the YouTube Health team, today was an incredible opportunity to bring together so many important voices in the mental health content space. We're excited to see what collaborations come from the Summit. For now, it's back to work for the YouTube Health team focusing on our mission to make public health truly public through the power of YouTube.

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