Pinterest joins MTV Entertainment Group for first-ever Mental Health Youth Action Forum

May 6, 2022

Pinterest is committed to advancing emotional wellbeing and supporting everyone to build a self they love — both on platform and off. This month, we are taking deliberate steps to lift the voices of young creators and drive a culture from awareness to action on mental health. On May 18, Pinterest will join MTV and other leading media and technology companies in participating in the first-of-its-kind Mental Health Youth Action Forum in Washington, D.C.

It is clearer than ever that a person’s emotional health is as important as their physical health. That is why Pinterest is working to build a corner of the Internet that is inspiring and nourishing. Our partnership with MTV will help us deliver on our mission by elevating the voices of young creators who support emotional wellbeing across the world. We could not be more excited about the future we are going to build together.

Ben Silbermann, CEO of Pinterest

As part of the partnership with MTV, Pinterest will elevate the stories of 30 young mental health content creators and activists selected to develop new creative mental health campaigns by young people, for young people. Following a six-week virtual creative development program led by MTV Entertainment Group, the young leaders will present their ideas at the White House event to help inform future creative public health campaigns related to mental health. Senior officials from the Biden-Harris Administration, including from the Department of Health and Human Services, are expected to speak at the Forum.

We are so grateful to our partners in entertainment, media, and tech who have agreed to join us at the Mental Health Youth Action Forum to learn from the insights of these amazing young creators and activists. These young people's ideas are critical to helping us achieve meaningful solutions, and it is thanks in part to the collaboration of our partners that their voices are going to be able to be heard.

Brianna Cayo Cotter, SVP of Social Impact for MTV Entertainment Group

Additionally, the evening before the Forum, Pinterest will kick off activities with an interactive experience at The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum to inspire Forum participants and prompt dialogue with youth content creators and action around mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Guests will be invited to explore Pinterest's ‘Light the Shadow’ experience, examining the connection between emotional wellbeing and inspiration. The event will also include work from Juan Miguel Marin, an Ecuadorian multi-disciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY who uses his artistic practice to create a collective meditation, and a fireside chat on the state of youth mental health and the power of storytelling with #HalfTheStory (HTS) founder Larissa May and Pinterest Chief Content Officer Malik Ducard.

Mental health is very real, and a deeply important matter to me. We live in a time in which people still avoid dealing with their trauma, so for me, breaking the stigma around mental health is a priority. Through my work I try to create a space for reflection, a space for people to reconnect with their own humanity. I am honored to partake in Pinterest’s ‘Light the Shadow,’ and commune.

Juan Miguel Marin

Juan Miguel Marin/ Photo Credit: Catalina Kulczar

The evening will conclude with a panel with leaders of three of our Purpose Partners, Asian Mental Health Collective, Bring Change to Mind, and Hopebound to explore how they engage their respective communities in effective and resonant ways to support their mental health. Throughout the event, guests will be able to explore the Renwick Gallery's new opening exhibit This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World which activates two floors of gallery space, highlighting more than 170 artworks from the museum’s permanent collection.

We believe that simple experiences shared plainly and honestly can be the most powerful of all. We invite Pinners and Creators to share all parts of themselves as a way to honor our collective mental health and wellbeing. Earlier this week, we announced several initiatives — both online and off — during Mental Health Awareness Month to increase awareness about how mental health challenges show up in daily life, advance innovation in the field through purposeful giving and provide inspiring resources to share peer-to-peer support, self-care and emotional wellbeing.

UPDATE: On Wednesday, May 18, The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee passed the “Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022” (HR 7666) that would improve mental health outcomes for youth, mothers, and people in crisis. Pinterest advocates for public policies that support our mission and promote the well-being of our Pinners, and we're pleased to see how Congress is engaging on mental health. During our event, we announced strong support for this legislation.

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