Creating Real Change in Student Mental and Behavioral Health Systems

Schools understand the student mental health crisis, but awareness alone hasn’t led to significant change.

This webinar breaks down what’s actually holding schools back from fully supporting student mental and behavioral health and shares concrete steps administrators can take to strengthen systems, support staff, and deliver supports that reach students consistently.

You’ll walk away with:

1. A clear understanding of why student mental health outcomes remain stagnant despite increased awareness and investment
2. Insight into how mental health literacy strengthens prevention, staff confidence, and early identification
3. Practical strategies to improve caregiver engagement, staff readiness, and continuity of care
4. No-cost tools and resources to strengthen continuity of care and coordination across teams

Who should attend? 

• District and School Administrators
• Special Education Directors
• MTSS/SEL/Behavior Leads
• School Psychologists & Counselors
• Anyone responsible for student mental/behavioral health initiatives

Speakers

Annie Slease, M.Ed., is the Cofounder and CEO of the Mental Health Literacy Collaborative. When her child’s crisis emerged in 2010, Annie was a classroom teacher, unaware of mental health literacy. Inspired by her personal experience navigating family mental illness without information or support, she repurposed her 25-year teaching career into mental health advocacy in 2017.

Since then, Annie has championed upstream solutions to address the youth mental health crisis, first in her home state of Delaware and now nationwide. For more than five years, she served as Director of Advocacy and Education at the Delaware chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She then led mental health initiatives for the University of Delaware’s Center for Disabilities Studies within the School of Education and Human Development. In 2023, Annie co-founded the Mental Health Literacy Collaborative (MHLC), a national nonprofit focused on making the education framework of mental health literacy (MHL) foundational in schools and communities.

In addition to her work with the MHLC, Annie is a board member of the Delaware School-Based Health Alliance, a core team member of the Delaware Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative, a community advisor for Delaware’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) project, and an appointee of the governor to the Delaware Behavioral Health Consortium. Annie is a mother, grandmother, wife, teacher, advocate, and a proud Tribal member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

Brandy Samuell  M. Ed. is a dedicated educator with over 32 years of experience. She has been involved in all facets of public education from classroom teacher to assistant superintendent. Brandy’s knowledge base spans general education, special education, mental health support, and school turnaround. She has experience working in charter, rural, suburban, urban, and virtual school settings. Brandy currently serves as the Director of Mental Health and Related Services at eLuma.

Brandy earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, Marketing, degree from Texas Tech University in 1989, and a Master of Education, School Counseling, degree from Texas Christian University in 2002. She has completed Post-Master’s work in Educational Diagnostics and Educational Leadership from the University of the Southwest. In addition, Brandy is certified in Critical Incident Stress Management; she has managed multiple school-related crises as well as provided crisis management and crisis response training for school staff and community-based first responders.

While Brandy has a broad scope of knowledge and interests, the majority of her career has been dedicated to supporting the emotional and behavioral needs of students as well as managing, coaching, and developing staff.

Jeremy Glauser is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach and the Founder and Board Chair of eLuma. He also founded the Mental Health Fund, which sponsors School Behavioral Health Research in partnership with CEC and USC, and serves as an adviser to The Kennedy Forum on School Mental Health. In addition, Jeremy is an advisor and investor in several EdTech companies and the founder of the CEO Wellness Advisory.

His work is guided by a lifelong mission to help people fulfill their potential, shaped by decades of experience as a founder and CEO.

Jeremy lives in Oregon with his wife, Natalie, their five school-aged children, and two beloved pups. He enjoys connecting with others around youth mental health, school technology, building high-performing organizations, athletics, intensive training, whole-food nutrition, and meaningful service.