Fighting the Mental Health Stigma ft. Aanya Virmani & Niah Goudar

Aanya Virmani is a junior at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, California. She is a Varsity Lincoln Douglas debater and a captain of her school debate team. Besides debate, she's been dancing for the past ten years, and is a dancer and instructor for a professional company outside of school. She absolutely loves volunteering, and loves helping out wherever she can. Mental Health issues are severely overlooked in today’s society and put down for the wrong reasons. The stigma around mental health is one that needs to be broken down, and her passion drives her to help break down that wall. As co-founder of The Mind Project, her job is to ensure that things run smoothly, mainly handling the graphic design, finance, and legal aspect of this non-profit. Niah Goudar is another co-founder of The Mind Project. She is a Junior at Newbury Park High school in Thousand Oaks, California. She is extremely active in her community and is involved in clubs, school, and numerous summer programs. She has founded the club Doctors of the World at her school, is Treasurer of Red Cross Club, Communications Officer of Youth and Government, Vice President of Essential Care, and a member of a few other clubs as well. In the summer, she held an internship at Art Trek and competed in business focused summer programs. As CEO of Piezogen and going through the process of getting a patent, she has gained experience in starting new projects and leading. As co-founder of The Mind Project, she co-manages the fundraiser directors and speaks at webinars in addition to leading the district partnership.  In this episode, learn about the story of the founding and growth of The Mind Project, through which the founders are fighting the mental health stigma every day.