Young Leaders Council

Aaliyah Gates (she/her) is a 24-year-old licensed master social worker residing in Tuscaloosa, AL. She serves as the student recruitment coordinator at her alma mater, the University of Alabama School of Social Work, supporting students pursuing careers in social work. Aaliyah is a CSWE Minority Fellowship Program fellow and a recipient of national scholarships, including the Carl A. Scott Memorial Fund Award and the Lawanna Renee Barron Scholarship. Her passion for mental health advocacy focuses on expanding access to behavioral health resources, supporting individuals and families, and amplifying underserved voices. As a member of the Young Leaders Council, she hopes to bring her social work perspective and commitment to mental health equity while collaborating with young leaders to create meaningful change.

Elizabeth Shvarts (she/her) is a 21-year-old senior at Yale University studying political science with a certificate in education studies. The 2022 NYC Youth Poet Laureate, 2021 2021 National Youngarts finalist, and 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate ambassador, Elizabeth is a lifelong storyteller with the steadfast belief that joy is our birthright. A fierce advocate for health equity and disability justice, she is currently a research assistant at the Yale Cancer Center and served as a Dwight Hall Community Mental Health Fellow at Yale University. Previously, Elizabeth was a Daily Point of Light Award-nominated, World Literacy Foundation Awards-shortlisted, co-founder/co-director of Bridge to Literacy, a global, UNESCO-recognized, U.S. Department of State-funded nonprofit that fosters a love of language through literacy-based mentorship in 150+ youth across 6 continents. Elizabeth is excited to bring her experience in policy research and performance arts to fight for an empathy-driven, expansive mental healthcare system with a focus on expanding legal and financial protections for youth experiencing mental health struggles.

Jordan White (he/him) is a 19-year-old nursing student at Herzing University located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He recently completed his role on the Jobs for the Future Youth Advisory Council, where he collaborated with national leaders and also spoke with legislators in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill, advocating for youth career development. He plans to continue establishing his career in public health as a nurse, and he’s very excited for this opportunity to join Mental Health America’s Young Leaders Council and to be given another platform to advocate for youth in America.

Kay Riley (she/her) is a 25-year-old passionate advocate for former and emancipated foster youth, dedicated to dismantling systemic barriers and creating sustainable pathways for vulnerable communities. As a licensed therapist currently practicing in a nursing home setting, she brings a grounded, integrative approach to trauma, mental health, and community restoration. Driven by the belief that true healing requires more than just meeting basic survival needs, her work expands on traditional frameworks like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Rather than addressing baseline needs and self-actualization in isolation, her unique approach targets every layer simultaneously by combining case management, emotional regulation, physical fitness, confidence-building, and strong community roots.

Kay’s commitment to systemic change is backed by transformative leadership opportunities, including her selection for the National Foster Youth Institute Congressional Leadership Academy, where she was flown out to Washington, D.C., to shadow lawmakers on Capitol Hill for a week and meet directly with Representative Shontel Brown of Ohio’s 11th District to advocate for foster youth. Additionally, she was accepted into the NextWave Leadership Cohort and awarded a $10,000 grant through Canary Impact to launch a project focused on cultivating safe, structured spaces for at-risk children to learn essential life skills and emotional regulation.

Through her nonprofit initiative, ButGodTransformation, she empowers mothers to bridge the gap between living in survival mode and truly thriving by integrating a biblical lens, faith, physical fitness, and practical life skills. To build lasting intergenerational impact, the organization operates on a pay-it-forward model where mothers who complete the program step into roles as mentors for at-risk children, directly channeling family healing into youth empowerment.

Vanessa Lopez (she/her) is a 21-year-old, born-and-raised Bronx native. Her experiences growing up in an underserved community and navigating her own mental health challenges have shaped her commitment to mental health advocacy. Vanessa recently graduated summa cum laude and as the 2026 salutatorian of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York, where she earned her B.A. in psychology. She has contributed to mental health research, policy, and access initiatives through roles with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health (OCMH) and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).

Vanessa currently serves as a Next Gen advisor for The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) New York State, a member of the National 988 Youth Advisory Council for Vibrant Emotional Health, and serves as the outreach coordinator for a student-led mental health pipeline program called The Bronx Mental Health Leaders (BxMHL) at Montefiore Einstein. Through these roles, she advocates for youth-informed mental health policy, develops mental health-based resources across New York State, helps create initiatives to expand access to mental healthcare, and advocates in addressing mental health disparities in underserved communities across New York City. Vanessa aspires to pursue her doctorate in psychology and is dedicated to serving underserved communities and advancing mental healthcare.