Introducing the 2025 Hybrid Conference
Bridging Voices, Building Futures
Youth Innovation in Mental Health
Virtual Conference Day – 5th September 2025, hosted via Zoom
In-Person Conference Day – 6th September 2025, held in Nairobi, Kenya
This year’s Generation Mental Health Conference shines a spotlight on the creativity, resilience, and leadership of young people in shaping the future of mental health. Bridging Voices, Building Futures reflects a growing global movement that values lived experience, centers inclusion, and drives innovative approaches to healing and care.
For the first time ever, the conference will be held both virtually and in person in the Global South, with Kenya as the host country. This important step opens the door for deeper connections across borders, amplifies underrepresented voices, and brings global attention to local innovations that are often overlooked.
In a world where mental health challenges continue to grow, this theme invites us to listen, co-create, and act. It is a call to build bridges between communities, cultures, and generations—grounded in empathy and led by youth. Together, we are not just imagining new futures for mental health—we are building them.
This year's conference sub-themes
Healing in Color
This sub-theme honors the mental health practices rooted in cultural, traditional and spiritual systems. It centers the voices and wisdom of communities that have long relied on faith, family and ancestral practices to heal and thrive.
Connection Over Correction
Here, we focus on how care and community can replace systems built on punishment or isolation. This theme uplifts collective care, solidarity and the social conditions that shape our mental health, especially in marginalized communities.
Silent No More
Youth are rising as powerful changemakers through art, storytelling and activism. This theme celebrates how creative expression, lived experience and advocacy are breaking the silence and driving real impact in mental health spaces.
Digital Innovation in Mental Health
Technology is changing how we access and experience mental health care. This sub-theme explores the rise of tools like teletherapy, mental health apps and online communities that are expanding support and reducing stigma. At the same time, it invites a critical look at the risks that come with this digital shift, including issues around privacy, misinformation and over-reliance on unregulated platforms. It also acknowledges the ongoing challenge of the digital divide, which continues to exclude many from these advancements.
Structural Change Beyond Awareness
Raising awareness is not enough. This theme pushes for lasting change through new policies, funding strategies and community-led models that move beyond talk to real transformation in mental health systems.
Sign up for this year's conference!
Tickets are now available for the online and in-person days of the conference!
Pricing:
| Type | Price |
|---|---|
| Low or Middle Income Country Resident | $5.00 |
| Student | $10.00 |
| General (Virtual) | $15.00 |
| General (In-person, Nairobi)* | $35.00 |
| Speaker/Moderator | $0.00 |
More information on eligibility for discounted tickets is available on the registration page. Here there are also details on obtaining fee waivers for both the virtual and in person days.
To request a fee waiver for the virtual day, please fill this quick form. We seek to approve all fee waivers requested for the virtual day.
*Given the higher cost for facilitating an in-person event, we have a more limited number of fully sponsored tickets for the event in Nairobi. We therefore ask those looking to have their ticket cost covered for the in person day to apply here by August 20th. Note that we will prioritize young people and people with lived experience based in Kenya.
Agenda
September 5 - Online (all timing in EST)
8:00 - 8:15am
Opening Session
8:15 - 9:15am
Creative Session
This session highlights visual and art-based approaches, including visual representations of poverty and an interactive art-based digital wellness space.
9:30 - 10:30am
Oral presentation sessions (concurrent)
Three breakout rooms will highlight youth led insights, focusing on the themes of “Connection Over Correction”, “Digital Innovation in Mental Health” and “Structural Change Beyond Awareness”.
10:45 - 11:45am
Workshops (concurrent)
These interactive sessions focus on community approaches to healing, highlighting case studies and building participants capacity for integrating art, storytelling, ritual and games into their mental health work.
12:00 - 1:00pm
Symposia (concurrent)
These panel sessions will highlight how young people across contexts are mobilizing their lived experience to improve youth mental health. One session will highlight case studies of the use of participatory methods for articulating perspectives, while another elucidates the need for including the perspectives of young people with chronic illness in the design of mental health systems.
1:15 - 1:30pm
Closing Session
September 6 - Swiss-Belinn Hotel, Kandara Rd, Nairobi, Kenya (all timing in EAT)
9:00 - 9:40am
Opening Session
The conference team will welcome you to the day. The session features live musical and spoken word performances, and a grounding activity to start the day.
9:45 - 10:45am
Plenary Panel
This session kicks off the day with a discussion of current challenges in youth mental health, with a particular focus on the role that youth led research can have in moving the field forward. This session will highlight a soon to be announced research skills capacity building program led by GenMH! We can’t wait to tell you all about it!
11:00am - 12:00pm
Oral presentation sessions (concurrent)
Two breakout rooms will feature young people presenting their community based work under the themes of “Structural Change Beyond Awareness” and “Healing In Color/Silent No More”.
Poster session
Youth led initiatives will highlight their work and learnings at this poster session!
12:00 - 1:00pm
Lunch (included in your delegate ticket)
1:00 - 2:00pm
Mainstage Panel
Join CitiesRise and the Kenya Ministry of Health Division for Mental Health for a discussion on intergenerational collaboration for youth mental health in Kenya! Speakers will highlight the work of young people as agents of change and the real policy wins which can come from these collaborations.
2:15 - 4:15pm
Workshops and symposia
These sessions feature interactive opportunities to learn about outcomes based payment models for mental health, creating digital peer support spaces, and other insights on youth-led models for transforming mental health systems.
4:15 - 4:45pm
Afternoon tea and networking
Get a chance to meet other attendees and learn from one another.
4:45 - 5:15pm
Fireside chat and closing
The fireside chat will feature conference co-chair and youth leader, Jack Sedah in conversation with GenMH founder, Jackee Schess, to discuss insights from the day and commitments to action for youth mental health.
Frequently Asked Questions
General FAQs
What is a hybrid conference?
The 2025 GenMH Conference is going to combine in person as well as virtual activities making it a hybrid conference. The in person component including poster sessions will take place in Kenya.
What is the theme?
The theme of the conference is Bridging Voices, Building Futures and we hope to shine a light on creativity, resilience, and leadership of young people in shaping the future of mental health.
Is there more than one theme?
No, but the conference presentations will be categorized into five sub-themes as we want to focus our conversation on these sub-themes. These are: Healing in Color, Connection over Correction, Silent No More, Digital Innovation in Mental Health, Structural Change Beyond Awareness. These sub-themes are what the conversation will focus on.
Can I participate virtually?
Yes, we have a day when the conference will be virtual when virtual participants can be present. However, the in-person session will not be streamed and can only accommodate in person participants.
Are there certificates or awards?
Yes, we will have certificates of participation for our attendees, delivered virtually.
In Partnership with
We are proud to be partnering with Basic Needs Kenya for the 2025 conference!
