Meet the 2026 JED Texas Youth Advocacy Coalition Fellows

The Jed Foundation (JED) is proud to announce the 2026 Texas Youth Advocacy Coalition Fellowship Cohort in partnership with the Trellis Foundation. This ten-week, paid, hybrid fellowship trains undergraduate students across Texas in mental health policy advocacy and community outreach, equipping them with a structured curriculum, expert mentorship, and paid compensation to develop and launch their own strategic advocacy plans.

Fellows will amplify mental health awareness on their campuses and in their communities, while working together for policy change at the state and federal levels, translating personal insight, research, and community input into actionable advocacy that continues throughout the academic year.

Here are our 2026 fellows: 

Jeeshita Halari

Jeeshita Halari is a second-year student at the University of Texas at Austin majoring in psychology on the pre-med track with a minor in statistics and data science. Through this fellowship, she’s looking forward to gaining experience in how mental health policy gets translated into practice and working with the other cohort members to help build structures that promote well-being. On campus, she serves as a peer support facilitator with the Longhorn SHARE Project, and is involved in programs that explore the intersection of art, connection, culture, and mental or physical health. Jeeshita loves reading a good (fiction) book and binge-watching Bollywood movies. She also enjoys spending time with family and friends and meeting new people.

Neleh Kirton

Neleh Kirton is a nursing student at Prairie View A&M University, where she serves as President of the Class of Fall 2027. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, she has developed a passion for advocacy, leadership, and creating spaces where students feel heard and supported. Through her experiences in nursing, student leadership, and community service, Neleh has seen how mental health can affect every part of a young person’s life, including their education, relationships, and overall well-being. She is passionate about making mental health resources and conversations more accessible to college students and communities that may face barriers to seeking support. As a Texas YAC Fellow, she hopes to strengthen her ability to turn the experiences and concerns of young people into meaningful advocacy and change. Neleh plans to carry these skills into her future nursing career and continue advocating for the well-being of the communities she serves.

Lipika Devara 

Lipika Devara is a psychology major and music minor at the University of Texas at Dallas and a passionate youth mental health advocate. She’s the founder of A.W.E. (Addressing Wellness & Equity), a youth-led nonprofit dedicated to making mental health education, resources, and awareness more accessible in culturally stigmatized and underserved communities while advancing equity. Her work is focused on early mental health intervention in K–12 settings, helping young people build the language, skills, and pathways to seek support before reaching a crisis point. She is also passionate about strengthening mental health infrastructure within academic settings, including creating more preventive, accessible, and connected systems of support for college students. Through advocacy, education, research, and community-centered initiatives, Lipika works to elevate youth voices and challenge the stigma surrounding mental health. She believes mental health support should be treated as a necessity, not a privilege, and hopes to help build systems that reach young people before their breaking point.

Michala Pollard

Michala Pollard is a neuroscience student at Texas Christian University and a McNair Scholar. She is passionate about understanding how social and environmental experiences influence health and well-being across the lifespan. Through research, mentorship, and community engagement experiences, she has become especially interested in youth mental health, resilience, and prevention-focused approaches to care. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience to further explore these interests and build a career that bridges research, advocacy, and community impact. Long-term, she hopes to build a collaborative network of scientists, clinicians, and policymakers dedicated to improving health outcomes and expanding opportunities for underserved communities.

Learn more about last year’s Texas YAC cohort:

• 2025 Texas YAC Fellows

• Texas YAC Mental Health Stories

• Texas YAC Advocacy