2026 & Beyond: Advancing Youth Wellbeing Through Systems-Change

Over the past several months, we have experienced tremendous momentum as we advanced promotive youth mental health and wellbeing through education systems. We expanded partnerships and collaboration to enhance the reach of our programs in India, Kenya, and Rwanda, and put the groundwork in place to shape understanding, policy and practice in promotive mental health.


Most critically, we extended the reach of our school-based programs across India and East Africa, building on efforts that have reached 4.3 million students and teachers to date through partnerships with national and state government local education systems.
‍

Growing Programs
‍

• In close partnership with Indian state and national education systems, WorldBeing India launched InLight India, a 5-year systems initiative focused on making wellbeing a guaranteed component of youth education throughout India.

• In Kenya, WorldBeing President Kate Leventhal co-hosted a training and planning session with the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMESTEA) and our local partner, Basic Needs Basic Rights, to further adapt and prepare Youth First teacher training for future expansion.
‍

Shaping Understanding, Policy and Practice
‍

• In Africa, our team participated in the East Africa Philanthropy Network conference in Kigali, and the Global Mental Health Summit in Cape Town, taking part in a global dialogue on how evidence, practice, and policy can better align to strengthen mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries.

• Members of our executive team also joined convenings around the United Nations General Assembly in New York, participating alongside global partners in conversations on mental health and the integration of wellbeing into education systems
‍

Looking Ahead to 2026
‍

As we move into 2026, we’re encouraged by a growing global recognition of how investment in youth mental health and wellbeing can positively impact outcomes across multiple critical domains, including health, gender equity, and education. This year, we continue to focus on sparking and growing collaborations to expand system-level impact. We’re deepening partnerships, strengthening the evidence for school-based, promotive mental health approaches, and continuing to learn alongside the global community engaged in this work.

‍