Poster 80 - Youth-driven Mental Health Policymaking in the Context of System Transformation

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM MDT

Location: Screen 3, Exhibit Hall Poster Pavilion

Too often, mental health policy is written about young people rather than with them. This session highlights what happens when youth take the lead, turning lived experience into legislative action, education reform, and new tools that make care more accessible. Attendees will hear directly from student leaders and system innovators who are reshaping how behavioral health services are delivered. By the end, attendees will walk away with strategies for embedding youth voice in policymaking, lessons from Illinois’ groundbreaking system transformation effort, and a clear vision of why the future of children’s mental health depends on listening to those most affected.

Learning Objectives:

Attendees will analyze a system transformation model that improves youth behavioral health access by integrating lived experience, data tools, and policy levers, and apply insights to their own practice contexts.
Attendees will evaluate strategies for authentically engaging youth leaders in policymaking processes and identify concrete methods to strengthen youth voice within their organizations, coalitions, or systems.
Attendees will examine examples of youth-driven legislative and policy action, assess their effectiveness, and translate lessons into actionable steps for advancing equitable behavioral health reform in their communities.

Poster Presenter(s)

AA

Abhinav Anne

Youth Advisor
World Health Organization
Plainfield, Illinois

Disclosure information not submitted.
SG

Sai Ganbote, n/a

Secretary & Co-Founder
Aurora Youth Council & Chicago Youth 4 Neuro
Aurora, Illinois

Disclosure information not submitted.