PRESTON, Wash., May 12, 2025 – In alignment with its mission to support healthy communities and personal wellbeing, Talking Rain Beverage Company®, makers of the No. 1 sparkling water brand, Sparkling Ice®, today announced the launch of a new workshop curriculum that was developed by its nonprofit partner, The Jed Foundation (JED). 

JED is a leading nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults nationwide, to help turn the tide on student-athlete suicides.

The new workshop curriculum, “Championing Mental Health: Winning Strategies for Supporting Student-Athletes,” was designed by mental health experts at JED with financial backing from Talking Rain and its brand, Sparkling Ice. It provides essential training and tools for college coaches and athletic directors to identify signs of mental distress among student-athletes, offer trauma-sensitive support, refer them to support when needed, care for their own well-being, and reduce risks for suicide – the second most common cause of death for college athletes, according to research led by the University of Washington. 

Recognizing that student-athletes at community colleges and Division I universities alike need access to mental health resources, JED launched the workshop at schools of different sizes, locations and athletic conferences. Early participants include California State University Maritime Academy, Michigan Technological University, Saint Peter’s University, Siena College, and Widener University —and more institutions are already scheduled to participate in upcoming training sessions.

“I had the privilege of attending one of the pilot workshops JED held for athletic directors and coaches this spring,” said Veronica Blankenship, chief people and communications officer at Talking Rain. “What impressed me the most was how open attendees were about their own mental struggles as athletes, and how much they empathized with what their student-athletes are going through. JED’s work is at the forefront of this ongoing shift in addressing mental health concerns, and these colleges and universities are eager to learn how to best support their students. We’re thrilled to be able to partner with JED on this life-saving initiative that furthers our commitment to sharing our success in support of healthy communities, greater inclusivity and personal wellbeing.”

Talking Rain’s continued support has allowed JED to expand its programming to scale its response to urgent community needs and deliver this new training to additional colleges and universities that have asked to receive it.

With mental health challenges on the rise, schools that signed up for the workshop say they are excited to bring the training to their staff and coaches, enhancing their ability to identify concerns and giving them the confidence to assist student-athletes who may be struggling. 

“This proactive approach not only fosters a healthier team environment and reduces stigma surrounding mental health, but it also empowers our leaders to play a vital role in the overall wellbeing and success of their athletes, extending beyond athletic performance,” said Katie Arcuri, director of athletics at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, NJ. 

“Student-athlete mental health is as important as physical health in achieving top performance both on and off the field,” said Dr. Katie Hurley, senior director of clinical advising and community programs at JED. “The sheer number of schools that responded asking to take part in these workshops is a testament to the current gap in mental health support for student-athletes across the country. We are grateful to Talking Rain for their continued support of this program.”

If your college would like to learn more about this series of workshops, please complete the intake form on JED’s website. 

# # #

 

About Talking Rain® Beverage Company 

Talking Rain, the makers of Sparkling Ice®, is a family-owned company based in Preston, Washington. Through nearly four decades of redefining the sparkling water category, Talking Rain has crafted a remarkable collection of full-flavored, better-for-you beverages, including the No. 1 sparkling water brand in the U.S., Sparkling Ice (also available in Caffeine and Energy), AQA and Popwell, a cold-crafted prebiotic soda. Talking Rain drinks are enriched with vitamins and antioxidants and come in a delicious array of bold flavors. Talking Rain believes in sharing its success to support healthy communities, personal wellbeing, and greater inclusivity. We live life in full flavor and believe the world should, too.

For more information, please visit www.talkingrain.com.

About The Jed Foundation (JED)

JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. We’re partnering with high schools, colleges, and school districts to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. We’re equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. We’re encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health. 

Connect with JED: Email | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Snapchat | YouTube 

# # #

Media Contact

Annie Alley
Firmani + Associates
206-466-2713
talkingrain@firmani.com

Justin Barbo
Director of Public Relations
The Jed Foundation
914-844-4611
justin@jedfoundation.org

Season-Long Program Will Raise Awareness of Community-Based Mental Health Resources;

Program Partners to be Recognized in Pregame Ceremonies on May 7

BOSTON, MA – In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Boston Red Sox today announced the launch of Change Up the Conversation, a new season-long initiative that will spotlight six partner nonprofit organizations working to expand mental health support and access across New England. In celebration of the program launch, Change Up the Conversation’s six community-based partners will be recognized in pregame ceremonies on May 7, preceding the 6:45 p.m. Red Sox-Rangers game.

 Each month during the season, the club will spotlight a New England-based mental health nonprofit through in-park experiences and social media storytelling, each centered on a theme such as mental health in sports, stress management, or suicide prevention. Youth and staff from the featured organization will be invited to Fenway Park to watch batting practice, meet Red Sox players, and enjoy a game. Each nonprofit will have a table in the concourse with additional information about their programs. As part of their visit, participants will receive goody bags and “Change Up the Conversation” t-shirts, and their stories will be shared across Red Sox Community Relations social channels to help foster open dialogue and reduce the stigma around emotional well-being.

The six partner organizations each represent a diverse range of approaches to mental wellness, from peer-driven support and LGBTQ+ affirming spaces to sport-based therapy and suicide prevention.

• Active Minds – Mobilizes young adults to speak openly about mental health and create communities of support on campuses and in schools nationwide.
• Doc Wayne – An award-winning nonprofit that uses sport-based therapy to address emotional, behavioral, and trauma-related challenges, with a focus on equitable access to mental health care.
• KyleCares – Encourages open, honest conversations about the mental health struggles facing teens and young adults, with a focus on education, awareness, and suicide prevention programs for high schools and colleges throughout New England.
• OUT MetroWest – Builds supportive communities for LGBTQ+ youth through programs that connect them with peers and affirming adult role models.
• Samaritans – Offers suicide prevention and grief support services across Massachusetts through a 24/7 helpline, community education, and survivor programs.
• The Jed Foundation (JED) is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. By partnering with high schools, colleges, and school districts to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems they’re equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. JED  is encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health.

“JED is proud to partner with a storied franchise like the Boston Red Sox on their ‘Changeup the Conversation’ initiative for Mental Health Awareness Month,” said John MacPhee, JED’s CEO. “More than 30% of young people between the ages of 18 and 25 experienced a mental, behavioral, or emotional health issue during the past year. That number is higher than any other adult age range. By raising awareness about mental health support and resources, together we can save lives, build communities of care, and help young people flourish.”

Changeup the Conversation is led by the Red Sox Community Relations team and builds on Major League Baseball’s broader efforts to promote mental wellness across the league. By connecting fans to local partners and using the team’s platform to elevate real experiences, the program seeks to foster a culture of openness, support, and resilience both inside and outside of Fenway Park. For more information visit redsox.com/changeup.

 

–RED SOX–

 

About The Jed Foundation (JED)
JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. We’re partnering with high schools, colleges, and school districts to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. We’re equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. We’re encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health.

 

Connect with JED: Email | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Snapchat | YouTube

 

Media Contacts
Justin Barbo
Director, Public Relations
The Jed Foundation
Justin@jedfoundation.org

Programming and conversations centered on policy innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and sustainable strategies to advance statewide initiatives protecting emotional health and preventing suicide in young adults

[April 29, 2025, Baltimore, Maryland] — The Jed Foundation (JED), a leading nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults nationwide, and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), with generous support from the Lumina Foundation, welcomed state higher education leaders, mental health experts, youth advocates, and funders for discussions on championing state and system-level mental health  innovations amid an evolving education policy landscape.

Held April 23-24 in Baltimore, the theme of the second SHEEO-JED convening was Building Resilience and Success: State and System-Level Mental Health Innovations with SHEEO & JED. The event included:

• Reflections from the SHEEO-JED Mental Health and Wellness Learning Community.
• Conversations about student mental health advocacy with state policy leaders from 15 states, including Arizona, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
• Sessions on sustainable funding models for mental health and wellness programs.
• State-level plans for scaling mental health policies.
• Remarks from keynote speaker Dr. Sanjay K. Rai, Secretary of Higher Education of the Maryland Higher Education Commission; Dr. Rob Anderson, President at SHEEO; John MacPhee, CEO at JED; Dr. John Lane, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Equity Initiatives at SHEEO; Dr. Zainab Okolo, Senior Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Government Relations at JED; Dr. Michelle Asha Cooper, Vice President For Public Policy at the Lumina Foundation; and others.

Key takeaways and impactful moments from the two-day gathering included:

• Explorations into how different states are improving mental health support through programs on and off college campuses, highlighting scalable models for cross-sector collaboration.
• Examples of the strategic use of data to inform mental health program development and shape both state and federal policy amid an ever-evolving political environment.
• Actionable insights from funders on designing innovative mental health programs and partnerships emphasizing measurable outcomes, helping higher education institutions tell a broader story about student well-being extending beyond academic performance. 
• College student perspectives on mental health resources and interventions making a difference in student well-being and mental health.

“The Building Resilience and Success convening is an important opportunity for the states in our inaugural student mental health learning community to share practices and recommendations as they support institutions who can, in turn, support their students better,” said Dr. John Lane, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Equity Initiatives at SHEEO. “Well-being is a top factor students self-identify in the achievement of their goals, and we are grateful for the robust contributions from partnering organizations, researchers, and supporters to promote states’ work in this important area.”

The 2025 gathering of nearly 100 state policy leaders from across the country comes at a time when 35% of college students report having a diagnosis of anxiety and 27% are experiencing depression or other mood disorders. A new study from America’s Promise Alliance shows that 63% of young people suggest increasing the number of mental health providers in their school or university, an effort widely discussed during the SHEEO-JED convening. 

“It was truly inspiring to hear from other students about the cultures on their campuses and the incredible projects they’re leading, while also learning from the panelists about all that is being done to support mental health and student wellness,” said Georgetown University student Hannah Corwin. “As a student, it can sometimes feel like no one really cares, but this experience was eye-opening. It showed me there are so many people deeply invested in making policy changes to help make campuses safer and more supportive for students.”

“If we are serious about helping young people thrive, we must move beyond rhetoric to bold, systems-level policy change informed by the lived experiences of youth,” said Dr. Zainab Okolo, Senior Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Government Relations at JED. “Translating today’s recommendations into actionable policy will not only strengthen emotional well-being across campuses, it will also create the conditions for students to succeed, lead, and contribute meaningfully to their communities — now and for generations to come.”

“States play a vital role in supporting youth mental health by investing in strategic policies and programs that prioritize early intervention, education, and community engagement,” said John MacPhee, CEO at JED. “Funding mental health services, training educators and community leaders, and promoting open conversations about emotional well-being can create a supportive environment that enables young people to navigate today’s challenges with hope.”

In 2023, JED partnered with SHEEO to pioneer the SHEEO-JED Mental Health and Wellness Learning Community. This initiative aimed to address the significant mental health needs of students by uniting state-level higher education leaders, practitioners, and stakeholders to focus on policy interventions that enhance college student well-being. The collaborative effort resulted in the publication of a report titled Building Momentum: Collaborative Solutions for State-Level Student Mental Health, which shared insights and initiatives from participating states, including Arizona, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Learn more about the event and the learning community on the SHEEO project webpage.

To view more photos of the 2025 SHEEO-JED convening in Baltimore, Maryland, click here.

 

###

About The Jed Foundation (JED)
JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. We’re partnering with high schools, colleges, and school districts to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. We’re equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. We’re encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health. 

Connect with JED: Email | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Snapchat | YouTube 

About SHEEO
The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) serves the chief executives of statewide governing, policy, and coordinating boards of postsecondary education and their staffs. Founded in 1954, SHEEO promotes an environment that values higher education and its role in ensuring the equitable education of all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic factors. Together with its members, SHEEO aims to achieve this vision by equipping state higher-education executive officers and their staffs with the tools to effectively advance the value of higher education, promoting public policies and academic practices that enable all Americans to achieve success in the 21st century, and serving as an advocate for state higher-education leadership. For more information, visit sheeo.org. 

Media Contacts
Justin Barbo
Director, Public Relations
The Jed Foundation
Justin@jedfoundation.org

 

Jessica Duren
Strategic Communications Director
State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
jduren@sheeo.org
(573) 291-9251

The Jed Foundation takes actionable steps to bring strategic
and evidence-based recommendations to campuses nationwide

[April 24, 2025 — New York, New York] – The Jed Foundation (JED), a leading nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults, announced today a mental health collaborative designed to enable community colleges to better support students who are parents. The JED Campus Collaborative for Student Parents builds on Improving Mental Health of Student Parents: A Framework For Higher Education, a set of recommendations developed by JED and Ascend at the Aspen Institute. 

Research shows over three million undergraduates, or 18% of the student population in the United States, are student parents — and they are largely understudied and underserved. Student parents earn grades on par, but are less likely to complete their degrees. At least three in 10 student parents report symptoms of depression and/or anxiety disorders, while 40% report being unaware of mental health information provided by their schools. Among student parents, 38% considered dropping out of school, compared to 25% of nonparents.

This collaborative, community-driven project puts research into practice by using a technical-assistance model, rooted in JED’s proven Campus programming, to help schools implement strategies from the recommendations, with the goal of enhancing mental health and well-being of students who are parents. Through a peer community approach, participating colleges will collaborate to share best practices, address barriers, and create meaningful systems-level interventions at their respective institutions.  

The ten community colleges currently participating in the Collaborative are:

1. Aims Community College (Greeley, Colorado)
2. College of Lake County (Grayslake, Illinois)
3. Community College of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
4. Dutchess Community College (Poughkeepsie, New York)
5. Holyoke Community College (Holyoke, Massachusetts)
6. Hudson County Community College (Jersey City, New Jersey)
7. Hudson Valley Community College (Troy, New York)
8. San Antonio College (San Antonio, Texas)
9. San Jacinto College (Pasadena, Texas)
10. Spartanburg Community College (Spartanburg, South Carolina)

Anticipated learning outcomes for community college participants include:

• Enhance mental health support for student parents: Utilize data-driven strategies and interventions resulting in measurable improvements in mental health and well-being
• Tailor technical assistance: Equip schools to address the unique needs of student parents, particularly mothers 
• Promote data-driven decision making: Collect and evaluate data to better understand the needs of student parents and make ongoing service and programmatic improvements    
• Strategic implementation of student-parent support: Implement at least two targeted interventions designed to enhance the mental health and well-being of student parents on their campus.
• Collaborative learning and peer support: Engage in a peer network to share best practices, methods, and solutions for improving student-parent support systems. This collaboration will strengthen institutional capacity to meet the unique problems faced by student parents.

“Student parents face unique challenges and responsibilities, sometimes leading to their mental health being sidelined. We’re proud to launch this Collaborative as a way to provide tailored and strategic support for a large and often overlooked population of college students,” said John MacPhee, JED’s CEO. “The Collaborative brings a special opportunity for participating community colleges to better promote emotional well-being and provide a community of care for  students who have dependent children. JED plans to expand this service across higher education institutions nationwide to ensure that student parents can achieve their educational goals without compromising their wellbeing and mental health.”

“Student parents are creative, versatile, flexible, and determined — all while balancing the dual responsibilities of school and family,” said Marjorie Sims, Managing Director of Ascend at the Aspen Institute. “That balancing act can come with immense stress, and colleges acknowledging these unique challenges is only the beginning of mitigating that stress. We are proud to see JED’s new Collaborative building on our initial framework on student-parent mental health — a meaningful step toward real action. Mental health support for student parents must be intentional, integrated, and sustained. We hope this effort to help colleges strengthen their systems of care offers student parents new opportunities to thrive — academically, emotionally, and in their roles as caregivers.”

For information about recent program enhancements to JED Campus and personalization by school type, including community colleges, click here.  

The JED Campus Student Parent Collaborative is generously supported by ECMC Foundation. To learn more about this initiative or JED’s work with higher education institutions, visit our website. 

Representatives from JED and participating colleges, as well as local student-parents, are available for media interviews upon request.

 

About The Jed Foundation (JED)
JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. We’re partnering with high schools, colleges, and school districts to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. We’re equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. We’re encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health. 

Connect with JED: Email | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Snapchat | YouTube 

About Ascend at the Aspen Institute

Ascend at the Aspen Institute Founder Anne Mosle set out with a mission to spark and spread breakthroughs in how we achieve intergenerational family prosperity and well-being. For a decade, Ascend has catalyzed a modern two-generation (2Gen) approach: one that intentionally focuses on children and the adults in their lives together, honors lived experience, and encompasses racial, gender, and economic equity through an intersectional lens. We are a community of leaders — well-connected, well-prepared and well-positioned — building political will that transforms hearts, minds, policies, and practices. Today, over 160 Ascend Fellows are transforming the leadership landscape. Through the Ascend Network, over 600 organizations work directly with families to operationalize 2Gen approaches and design new tools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico as well as across the globe in Ireland, Rwanda, and Guatemala. Together, we have ignited a movement reaching 15 million families.

Media Contact

Justin Barbo

Director of Public Relations, The Jed Foundation

justin@jedfoundation.org