Case Study | ICONIQ Impact x Prospira Global
A $200 million collaborative philanthropy fund to support the mental wellbeing of young people around the world.
Impact Summary
Prospira Global partnered with ICONIQ Impact, ICONIQ Capital’s platform for collaborative philanthropy, to launch the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab — a collaborative philanthropy fund aiming to raise $200 million to support the mental wellbeing of young people around the world.
90 million + young people anticipated to be supported worldwide
Up to $200M fund, distributed over five years
Design of a ‘learning journey’ for donors who were new to the mental health space
Design of a new global youth mental wellbeing theory of change to inform portfolio design
25 evidence-based grantee organisations selected (selected from over 2,000 reviewed)
“This youth mental wellbeing fund means a lot because it will help many youth and many children that are going through tough times on their own. I’m truly glad that some people out there are finally thinking of youth and children’s mental well being, and are doing something about it.”
Youth Advisor (ICONIQ Impact Youth Mental Wellbeing Collabroative)
THE OPPORTUNITY
The wellbeing of the world’s young people is a critical public health crisis; today's youth are 3-4x more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression than their parents’ generation, yet less than 2% of global health budgets address youth mental health.
To help fill this critical support gap, ICONIQ Impact, alongside philanthropist and Co-Lab anchor donor, Xin Liu, launched the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab, with technical advisory support from Prospira Global.
The Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab now supports 25 organisations that are reducing youth anxiety and depression by giving young people agency, helping them foster a sense of community and belonging, and building their resilience.
OUR TEAM
Prospira Global worked with our extensive network of consultants, advisors, and partners, to ensure that the donors of the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab had the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions around which grantees to fund through the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab.
Our Senior Advisors, Regional Consultants, and newly appointed Youth Advisory Group, lent their expert opinions and deep understanding of local and regional contexts across all continents, while our core team managed the project end-to-end, working alongside potential grantees, ICONIQ Impact, and the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab donors.
“The Prospira team have been invaluable in building the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab and continue to impress us with their holistic knowledge of the global mental health space.”
Katie Hunt-Morr (ICONIQ Impact)
WHAT PROSPIRA GLOBAL DID
1. Theory of Change
Prospira Global conducted a thorough landscape analysis and worked with the ICONIQ Impact team, youth leaders, and mental health advocates from diverse backgrounds to develop a comprehensive theory of change framework for youth mental wellbeing funding. We consolidated existing frameworks into one comprehensive framework to ensure the highest impact based on the latest evidence-based solutions, which were informed by youth. As part of this process, we collaborated with the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab donors to identify success metrics and establish evaluation criteria for potential grantees.
We determined that shifting the trajectory of depression and anxiety for young people, especially for those most at risk and/or from marginalised communities, would result in outsized impact and intersectional benefits. We then looked at where philanthropy could focus to help empower youth to pursue improved mental wellbeing without placing the burden of responsibility on them. From this, came the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab’s three pillars:
Resilience
Both societal scale problems, as well as individual crises—like family conflict, poverty, chronic illness, and more—can overwhelm young people, leading to emotional distress and poor mental health. Organisations in this pillar will help build young people’s resilience so they can withstand hardships, failures, and adversity, reducing the likelihood of long-term mental health issues.
Belonging
Despite being more connected than ever, young people today experience higher levels of loneliness and isolation than any other generation. Organisations in this pillar will help youth cultivate meaningful connections with peers, find a sense of belonging in their chosen communities, and build a purposeful life.
Agency
Economic inequity, climate anxiety, political turmoil, and other societal scale challenges can leave young people feeling powerless and like they lack the ability to control their own circumstances and futures. Organisations in this pillar will give youth the power and support they need to affect change in their own lives, within their communities, and across society.
2. Donor Education
An important aspect of the ICONIQ Impact Co-Lab experience is to support donors on their learning journey around the Co-Lab’s focus area. We guided donors through an educational journey to (1) learn about global mental health and (2) feel equipped to confidently determine what organisations to fund through the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab.
3. Grant Portfolio
Working with donors, we developed customised evaluation criteria to guide the grantee shortlisting process. Selected grantees had:
A focus on reducing depression and/or anxiety for young people
Proven, community-based and culturally sensitive solutions that were outcome driven
We initially identified 2,000+ organisations to be vetted. Through robust due diligence, we filtered this list down to 28 organisations that we discussed and evaluated in collaborative sessions with ICONIQ Impact and the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab donors.
From this, 25 mental wellbeing solutions from around the globe were selected. We also worked with donors to develop a dynamic scenario funding model to ensure that grants were distributed using trust-based philanthropy best practices in a way that enabled the greatest impact.
IMPACT
Scale work to support young people through proven interventions: 90 million+ young people worldwide will have better mental health knowledge, improved mental health behaviour, and increased access to treatment
Provide prevention for the future while also supporting immediate needs through mental health advocacy, treatment, and systems change work
Provide an opportunity to have both broad reach and deep impact via a blend of low-, medium-, and high-touch solutions
The Co-Lab will direct at least 60% of funding towards organisations in the Global South, to help reduce regional discrepancies in mental health support.
We are honoured to have worked with the ICONIQ Impact team on a project catalyzing a new generation of philanthropic leadership.
It was our pleasure to highlight the incredible work organisations across the world have been doing to support young people’s mental wellbeing and to advocate for them to be included amongst the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab grantees. We are excited to see them take their work to the next level.
We are also extremely proud of how our team brought their unique expertise to this project to help create a new reality in which young people have the resilience, agency, and sense of belonging to help them flourish.
“We custom built the team to support the Youth Wellbeing Co-lab to be composed of the world’s leading experts, informed by research, practice, and lived experience to guide the donors in their decision making. As a new area of funding for many, we believe that providing expert advice and guidance is crucial for accelerating impact where it is needed most, informed by experts from around the world.
The ICONIQ Impact Youth Wellbeing Co-lab is changing the scale and approach for global mental health funding, and we have been inspired by the donors leading the way with this much needed work, and it has been an honour to join them in changing the trajectory of youth depression and anxiety worldwide.”
- Elisha London, Founder & CEO, Prospira Global
At Prospira Global we have the vision to mainstream mental health in the next generation of global financing through philanthropy and investment. Our mission is to design and deliver effective mental health solutions guided by intelligence, lived experience, and data. If you are interested in learning more about the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab or the global mental health funding landscape please contact us directly at info@prospira.global.
“I wanted to reach out and express our appreciation to the Prospira Global team for all you did during this process and honestly all you do. You all are really changing the game for organisations and communities in the mental health space!”
Black Girls Smile
Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab Grantee
“I wanted to thank Prospira Global for your support throughout this process in making this new partnership between StrongMinds and ICONIQ possible!
Reaching people in Africa with mental health services is essential and together we will improve thousands of lives for years to come!""
Strong Minds
Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab Grantee