On November 7, Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California, the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum, will host The Asian American Foundation’s (TAAF) first-ever AAPI Youth Mental Health Summit. Under the theme “Sparking Solutions Together,” the summit will convene hundreds of experts, advocates, funders, and business executives to address the urgent and often overlooked mental health challenges facing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth.

From 2018 through 2022, suicide was the leading cause of death among Asian Americans aged 15–24, and the second leading cause of death among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Yet despite being deeply impacted by the nation’s mental health crisis, AAPI youth remain largely invisible in the national mental health conversation, and the data needed to understand their mental health is scarce at best. To fill the gap, TAAF released "Beyond the Surface" in December 2024, the most comprehensive study to date on AAPI youth mental health, which revealed:

• Nearly 1 in 2 AAPI youth screen positive for moderate depression;
• 1 in 3 have planned or attempted suicide;
• Stigma, family pressure, and silence keep many from seeking help;
• Only 53 percent feel comfortable talking with their parents;
• Just 1 in 4 have accessed formal care; and
• 46 percent have never seen a mental health provider.

Building on these findings, the November 7 summit will bring together leading experts to spark dialogue on breaking stigma, closing gaps in care, and exploring how community partners and technology are reshaping the ways young people seek and receive support. 

Join us online to hear from:

• Midori Francis, Actor, "Grey’s Anatomy"
• Ryan Alexander Holmes
• Owin Pierson, Creator and Mental Health Advocate
• Lisa Ling, Journalist
• Noopur Agarwal, VP of Social Impact, MTV
• Norman Chen, CEO, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF)
• Philip Yun, Co-President and Co-CEO, Commonwealth Club World Affairs
• Rushika Fernandopulle, MD, Practicing Physician; Co-Founder and Former CEO, Iora Health; TAAF Board Member
• Juliana Chen, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Cartwheel
• Perry Chen,Director of Programs and Partnerships, Behavioral Health at Blue Shield of California
• Rachel Miller, Founder & CEO, Closegap
• Meena Srinivasan, Founding Executive Director, Transformative Educational Leadership
• Ayesha Meer, Executive Director, Asian Mental Health Collective
• Henry Ha, Program Director, Community Youth Center of San Francisco
• Anne Saw, PhD, HOPE Program
• Reid Bowman, MPH, CHES, Outreach & Program Manager, UCA Waves
• Rupesh Shah, COO of Crisis Text Line
• Tone Va’i, LCSW, Clinician, Samoan Community Development Center
• Amy Grace Lam, PhD, Chief Program Strategist, Korean Community Center of East Bay
• Christine Yang, ASW, Korean Community Center of East Bay
• Christina Yu, LCSW, Clinical Supervisor, Korean Community Center of East Bay
• William Tsai, PhD, Associate Professor, New York University
• Cindy H. Liu, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, BOBA Project, Harvard Medical School
• Tiffany Yip, Professor of Psychology, Fordham University
• Quynh Nguyen, TALA (Thriving AANHPI Leadership Accelerator) Fellow