Brave Talk: Empowering Youth to Have Mental Health Conversations

Peer mental health support plays a critical role in early intervention, but too often, young people don’t know what to say or how to connect a friend to the right resources. According to the 2023–2024 Healthy Minds Study, nearly 60% of college students say they’ve received advice or support for their mental health from a roommate or friend in the past year alone.

That’s why The Jed Foundation (JED) and Maybelline New York created Brave Talk—an expert-designed 90-minute training that equips young people with the skills to recognize signs of distress, start meaningful conversations, and connect peers to care. Brave Talk is an interactive, accessible, and adaptable resource for various youth-serving environments.

To date, Brave Talk has been used at over 230 colleges and universities and in more than 30 countries worldwide, helping young people foster connection, reduce stigma, and support one another in moments of need. It was also featured in the BBC StoryWorks and World Health Organization (WHO) Foundation mini-documentary series, Healthier Together: A Path to a Better World, for its global impact in democratizing access to mental health tools.

The Jed Foundation is a national nonprofit and recognized leader in youth emotional health and suicide prevention. This session will be led by Kiana Davis, MPH, CHES, JED’s Director of Community Initiatives, who oversees the Brave Talk program and has trained public health and education leaders in over 30 countries on implementing the curriculum in colleges, schools, and community settings.

Whether you work in public health, higher education, community-based organizations, or youth development, you’ll leave this session with practical, expert-backed tools to support your community, plus the confidence to help young people take brave steps toward both help-seeking and help-giving.

In this session, attendees will:

• Explore the Brave Talk curriculum and the B.R.A.V.E. Framework
• Access free facilitation materials and implementation guidance
• Practice strategies that foster impactful peer-led conversations
• Learn from real-world examples of Brave Talk in action

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Identify and access the Brave Talk facilitation materials and resources provided during the session to prepare for independent implementation in their communities.
2. Demonstrate use of varied instructional methods by actively engaging in or facilitating a peer-led discussion exercise based on Brave Talk strategies by the end of the session.

Competencies that will be covered include: 

3.1.1 Secure implementation resources.

3.2.5 Employ an appropriate variety of instructional methodologies. Employ an appropriate variety of instructional methodologies.

Sponsored by the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE), a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES®) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES®) to receive up to 1.0 total Category I contact education contact hours.

SOPHE is a provider of Certified in Public Health (CPH) Renewal Credits. A total of 1.0 CPH Renewal credits are provided on behalf of the National Board of Public Health Examiners.