As a first-generation immigrant to the United States from the poorest province in China, mental health care was not in the vocabulary of the family of our guest today, Diana Chao. At 13, she was diagnosed with uveitis and bipolar disorder, and attempted suicide for the last time. Her little brother luckily saved her, and she decided to seek help. She also started writing. At first, she wrote her story in letters to no one in particular, pretending the recipient was kind and non- judgmental.

In 2013, during her sophomore year in high school, she founded Letters to Strangers, or L2S, as a student club to help others suffering from mental health issues. Even as she navigated her physical and mental health conditions, Diana and worked to support her family and pursued her passions for photography, science, and the elevation of the stories of people of color. Her photographs were eventually featured in Vogue Italia, Adobe, and Redbubble. At 16 she was recognized by the US Navy for her research on the dengue virus. At 18 her research for NASA was featured in the American Astronomical Society Conference. She went on to earn her BS. in Geological and Earth sciences from Princeton University and just completed her MBA at Oxford. All along Diana never stopped believing that writing is humanity distilled into ink and today, L2S has grown into the largest youth for youth nonprofit in the world, impacting over half a million people in the last decade. With programs in 23 States and 72 countries across 6 continents and over a hundred chapters. Diana has been honored by two US Presidents, is a 2021 Princess Diana legacy Awardee, a 2020 L’Oréal Paris Woman of Worth, Oprah Magazine’s 2019, Health Hero, the We are Family Foundation 2017 Global Teen Leader, the youngest ever winner of the Unilever Young Entrepreneurs award and a Tedx Teen Speaker.