Peer Mentor Appreciation Day
Last Friday, we held our annual Peer Mentor Appreciation Day at Salem Willows 
We love having the opportunity to celebrate our Peer Mentors and all of the amazing work they do, from telling their Comeback Stories in schools to a plethora of self-motivated side projects. The NAN Project wouldn’t be possible without our Peer Mentors!! Thank you all
Peer Mentor Graduation at Massasoit Community College
We held a graduation for our newest Peer Mentors Chloe and Ahri this week at Massasoit Community College 
! They were able to complete an intensive four-day training that included writing their own inspiring comeback stories regarding their mental health journeys. Everyone send a big congratulations to the newest members of Team NAN!
Samaritans Hope Breakfast
Today, NAN Team Members Sarojini and Liza had the opportunity to attend the #BreakfastForHope with Samaritans! We are grateful for our continued partnership with this organization, which is celebrating 50 years of hope in human connection! Sarojini and Liza raved about how hearing so many lived experience stories helped kick off the day strong, especially considering how TNP shares in the same work and messages!
Empowering Youth Voices 2024
On May 3rd, we held our first youth mental health summit, Empowering Youth Voices, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Health. The event was a massive success and was attended by well over 100 students from nearly 20 different schools in Massachusetts. Throughout the day, students had the chance to attend panels, listen to powerful speakers, and partake in collaboration opportunities. All of these activities were centered around mental health and focused on bolstering leadership within their communities! 
MassDMH Suicide Prevention Conference
Over the last two days, our team attended the Annual Massachusetts Department of Public Health Suicide Prevention Conference to represent The NAN Project and spread the word about the wonderful work we do!
It was an amazing experience to connect with and learn from our fellow peers in the mental health world who are doing similar work! We also got to hold a presentation explaining the power of our peer-to-peer model and highlighting our collaboration with Sharing Kindness
50k People Reached
Amazing news! We just hit the milestone of 50,000 people reached through The NAN Project! This number represents the various students, community members, and stakeholders that we’ve been able to share our message of hope with since the beginning of our journey. We’d like to send a big thank you to all of our supporters for making this goal possible! Together, we are fighting the stigma against youth mental health and showing that recovery is possible. Let’s go Team NAN!
State House Briefing
On March 21st, The NAN Project presented a State House Briefing in Boston to garner support for our work in youth suicide prevention. Our peer mentors, Aiden and Emily, as well as an educator from a partner school and other team members had the opportunity to speak in front of MA legislators about the positive impact that the NAN Project has on youth mental health. State Representative Michael Day shared some amazing opening remarks and Senator Joan B. Lovely was a cohost! We feel gratified to have been given the platform to share our mission on Beacon Hill.
Successfest 2024
Our team had the opportunity to attend Successfest 2024 with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health 
The theme of this year’s Successfest was Helping, Empowering, Accepting, and Loving. We were very happy to participate with a Peer Mentor presentation and some tabling to spread awareness about TNP It was an incredible event focused on inspiring youth and motivating them to be active leaders in their communities
Sharing Kindness Summit
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of attending the Hope Squad Summit, held by Sharing Kindness It was a wonderful opportunity for students in the Cape Cod area to speak about being mental health leaders and discuss ways to collaborate. We got to present on our Peer to Peer model and then read two comeback stories! Thank you to Sharing Kindness and Hope Squad for allowing us to speak at this event
Storytelling Workshop with Meghann Perry Group
Recently, we hosted a storytelling workshop at our home office in Lexington with the Meghann Perry Group. The focus of this workshop was to help our Peer Mentors develop their presentation skills surrounding subject matter that deals specifically with mental health and emotions. Over the course of the two-day training, we honed the craft of verbal storytelling with the help of skilled professional communicators and focused on productive group work and expressing positive feedback.
