When Lady Gaga began sharing stories of the fact that during her youth she was bullied, isolated, and even abused by other kids for being different, her experience resonated with thousands of her fans. Like her, many of them struggled with anxiety, depression and other assaults on their mental health and were hungry for community, resources and support. In 2012, Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, founded Born This Way Foundation to empower and inspire young people to build a kinder, braver world that supports their mental health. Based on the scientific link between kindness and mental health, Born This Way Foundation works with young people to build kind communities, both online and in person, that prioritize and foster mental well-being. It also leverages research, programs, grant making and partnerships to connect young people to accessible mental health resources, equipping them with the skills to support themselves and one another.

Born This Way Foundation’s Director of Research and Evaluation, Dr. Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes has been instrumental in helping Born this Way Foundation connect with tens of thousands of young people across the globe through cutting edge research and innovative, effective youth-focused programming. She is a youth, mental health and substance use prevention expert with experience in public schools, clinical settings and research institutions. She has an MA in Applied Psychology from NYU, a doctorate in Education from Columbia University, and she did her postdoctoral training at Yale University. She holds faculty appointments at the Child Study Center and the Biomedical Informatics and Data Science Center, both at Yale School of Medicine, and in this episode, she shares the work of Born this Way Foundation.