Giving Compass' Take:

• Brooke Stafford-Brizard spoke at the iNACOL Symposium on the need to support the entire student to ensure their academic and mental health success.

• How can philanthropies help build the resources necessary to support every student's needs?

• Learn about the ripple effects of providing mental health services.

This week, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) Director of Whole Child Development Brooke Stafford-Brizard spoke to a crowd of more than 1,000 education and technology leaders at the annual iNACOL Symposium in Palm Springs. Brooke spoke about the need to take an asset-based approach to mental health that infuses teaching of mental health skills into schools with the same intention and rigor we give to academic skills. This important shift is part of CZI’s mission to ensure that every student —not just a lucky few—can get an education that’s tailored to their individual needs and supports every aspect of their development.

Here are Brooke’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

If we only name that limited set of academic competencies as preparation for postsecondary that is where the majority of resources and the majority of energy will go – we have to change our north star to reflect what we have learned to be critical for our children’s success academically and beyond.

Many of us don’t have a concrete picture of what mental health looks like through an asset based, strength-based lens and without that, it is impossible to connect to the skills and conditions that we need to focus on to support the mental health of all of our students.

Without that clarity, we are faced with the reality that most schools are not set up to rigorously and intentionally address an area that we know is critical for our children’s success inside and outside the classroom – we know it is critical in the face of mounting evidence, mounting demand from families and educators and in the resources that we are starting to see directly allocated to the space in a number of states.

This whole child approach is grounded in equity and focuses on the assets that students bring from their background and culture.

Read the full article about broadening the definition of student success to include mental health at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.