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Active Minds got its start on the University of Pennsylvania campus in 2001. Alison Malmon, then a junior, returned to campus following the suicide of her older brother, Brian Malmon, and recognized the need for Penn students to be talking about mental health issues more openly. She was determined to change the culture on her campus. After searching unsuccessfully for a group that she could bring to her campus, Alison created her own model and formed what was then known as Open Minds.
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Kate Hard dedicated her first year as a Georgetown University transfer student to bringing the Penn program, and mental health awareness, to her new campus. She founded the second chapter of Active Minds at Georgetown in fall 2002, which gained the same momentum and support as had the Penn chapter.
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As the first student-run mental health education group in Pennsylvania, Open Minds’ creativity and effectiveness caught the attention of the local Mental Health America chapter and received its first recognition, the Innovation Award, at their Bell of Hope Awards dinner. This was just the start of many more awards to come!
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Registered in the District of Columbia, Active Minds officially became an incorporation.
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Active Minds’ first national conference on the Georgetown University campus convened about 30 attendees from eight different campuses, with speakers from American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Depression and Related Affective Disorders Association, National Institutes of Mental Health, and more.
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When Active Minds moved into its first office, the first staff person to work with Alison was hired. Jessica Levenson was brought on as the organization’s first Chapter Coordinator. As Chapter Coordinator, she was focused on developing new chapters and supporting the students and staffpeople interested in raising awareness on their campuses through Active Minds.
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Governor Robert Ehrlich signed HB930 into Maryland law, partly thanks to the lobbying of Active Minds founder, Alison Malmon. The bill called for the implementation of peer-to-peer mental health awareness programs like Active Minds, along with screening programs, in pilot Maryland high schools and juvenile facilities. HB930 mandates the Maryland State Department of Education to apply for federal funding through the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act to fund these teen suicide prevention programs.
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Active Minds expands beyond the border with its first chapter outside of the United States at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.
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National Stress Øut Day was launched in 2006 by Active Minds and Anxiety Disorders Association of America to provide a pre-finals stress reliever and to educate and provide students with information about stress management, anxiety and related disorders at the end of the spring semester. Over one hundred campuses participate each year. <a href='http://www.activeminds.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=69&Itemid=105' >Learn more about National Stress Out Day
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The profile in the New York Times by Tamar Lewin marked the first major print profile of Active Minds and its founder.
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National Day Without Stigma was designed to create a unified program for all Active Minds chapters that highlights the importance of raising awareness and educating people about mental health issues to help ensure that students receive the help they need. National Day Without Stigma is held on the Monday of Mental Health Awareness Week each year. Learn more about National Day Without Stigma
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Our number of chapters break into triple digits with a chapter at at the St. Catherine University in Minneapolis, MN.
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Active Minds is introduced into high schools with a chapter at Newton South High School.
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Send Silence Packing, a traveling display of 1,100 backpacks that represent the 1,100 college and university students who die by suicide across the country each year, was unveiled on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The event was visited by over 10,000 people and Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) was a special guest speaker at the event. Learn more about Send Silence Packing
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With the hire of our first-ever national Programs Director, Sara Abelson, MPH, our office grew to the swell number of 5, and changed structure to reflect the organization’s focus on national programming. Read Sara's staff bio
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Active Minds gets a new look! We unveiled our new website and logo at the 5th annual National Mental Health on Campus Conference at The University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, PA - Active Minds' birthplace.
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Our network of chapters grew to 150 with the founding of Active Minds at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.
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Active Minds celebrated a historic milestone - its 200th campus chapter when Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, FL joined our organization. FAMU is one of 105 Historical Black College or Universities in the country. Read the press release
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The first Spring Break-the-Silence Fundraiser convened supporters in the fun Google DC office to hear from special guests two-time Pro Bowler Shawn Andrews from the Philadelphia Eagles; Dr. Tom Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health; Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-CA, and Director of the Google DC office and Active Minds Board Member Bob Boorstin.
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Active Minds acquired the Heard, a renowned young adult mental health speakers bureau from the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign (NMHAC), which then closed its doors. The Heard was the first speakers bureau in the country devoted to removing the stigma surrounding mental illness and raising mental health awareness among high school and college students. Learn more about The Heard
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Supporters of Active Minds lent their voices and votes to Active Minds, Inc.'s Send Silence Packing program in the renowned Pepsi Refresh Everything Competition. As a result, Active Minds finished in 4th place among more than 200 entrants and received a $50,000 grant from Pepsi. The grant funded the first-ever cross-country tour of Send Silence Packing. [Read more in the tour's blog](http:///www.sendsilencepacking.org)
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We hit the 250 mark with Active Minds at Messiah College in Grantham, PA.
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A room full of congressional aides and prominent leaders in the mental health field joined Dr. Tim Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, and Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) on Capitol Hill for the first-ever educational briefing on college mental health, sponsored by Active Minds. <a href='http://www.activeminds.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=329&Itemid=93' >Read the press release
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We celebrated our 300th chapter when we welcomed Active Minds at State University of New York Oswego in Oswego, NY. Read the press release here.
