Briana Acosta is a Master of Public Health candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Working as a fellow with the City of Kitchener for 10 weeks this summer, Briana is working on Project EMPTHY (EMPowered, Thriving and Happy Youth) Kitchener. The goal of Project EMPTHY Kitchener is to help the City craft an equitable, collaborative strategy to address the social determinants of youth mental health, post-pandemic.
Given that Mayor Vrbanovic has identified this issue as a mayoral priority, by the end of her fellowship Briana will present the City with a set of actionable recommendations to implement to improve youth mental health and well-being in Kitchener. Anyone interested in learning more about the project, of which CYPT is a key partner, is encouraged to contact Briana at briana.acosta@kitchener.ca.