Youth Creating Change is a non-profit organization (501 c3) dedicated to placing young people’s voices and creativity at the center of suicide prevention and mental health programming. Our mission is to educate young people about mental health, suicide prevention and other critical health and social justice issues through the creation of art and film projects; to facilitate healing and belonging through creative expression, and to support schools and communities through curriculums, trainings, and awareness activities in creating safe spaces where young people feel seen, heard, and supported in reaching out for help.
The organization’s signature program, The Directing Change Film Contest, launched at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year.
Contract Awarded
AdEase (Now Civilian) and Your Social Marketer (as a subcontractor to Civilian) are awarded the contract to create and oversee California’s Suicide Prevention Media Campaign, now known as the Know the Signs campaign, including a PSA contest for students.
The Directing Change Student PSA Contest launches as part of statewide suicide prevention, stigma reduction and student mental health efforts in California.
These initiatives were funded by counties through the Mental Health Services Act (Prop 63) and administered by the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA). The program was dreamed up and developed by co-founders Jana Sczersputowski and Stan Collins and created in partnership with the team at Your Social Marketer and Civilian. We appreciate everyone who played a role in informing the program, but want to especially thank Ann Collentine (CalMHSA), Stacey Smith and her team (Civilian), Monica Nepomuceno (California Department of Education) and the 11 leads from the regional K-12 Student Mental Health Initiative (SMHI), a program of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association with a special shout out to Dotti Ysais and Rich Lieberman.
First Submissions
On the program’s first submission deadline, 391 film submissions were received from students across California. Check out the first-place winning film in the Suicide Prevention Category “Hey I’m Allen” by Angel Lopez.
First Red Carpet Ceremony
The program’s first annual red carpet award ceremony is hosted at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento. Bradley Buecker and Max Adler accepted Outstanding Messaging Award for Glee. Fun Fact: Bradley Buecker still volunteers his time to review entries to the annual film contest!
Through the Lens of Culture Category Launch
Launched the Through the Lens of Culture submission category asking youth to create PSA’s about suicide prevention and mental health through the lens of different cultures and communities adn encouraging films in all languages. View the first-place winning film in the Through the Lens of Culture, about suicide prevention, ‘My Hidden Feelings”.
Non-Profit Program Launch
The Directing Change Program and Film Contest became a (501 c3) non-profit organization.
Animated Short Category Launch
Launched the Animated Short Category inviting youth to submit 30-second animated PSAs about suicide prevention. Check out the first place winning film “Behind the Mask”.
Hope and Justice Contest Launch
During the COVID 19 Pandemic, the Hope & Justice Art and Film Contest as a way to support educators and students with curriculums and creative outlets that could be implemented in a virtual classroom. The purpose of Hope & Justice is provide youth with an outlet to process what they are grappling with in their day to day lives – mental health, racism, economic uncertainty, climate change, health disparities – with prompts that ask them to express and process their feelings in a positive and impactful format. Youth are asked to share how they find hope, ways they cope with tough times and complex feelings, and the changes they hope to see in their communities. Check out the virtual art gallery.
Hope & Justice Virtual Art Exhibit
The ribbon cutting event featured a panel of youth artists, a spoken word performance, the unveiling of the virtual art gallery, and a Paint My Piece event where a youth artists walked attendees through re-creating the artist’s painting. Check out a recording of Paint My Piece event.
The Mental Health Thrival Kit
The Mental Health Thrival Kit was created to celebrate wellness and promote positive coping skills for youth with easy-to-follow activities to enhance skills for social emotional wellness (made available in English and Spanish). Check out digital Mental Health Thrival Kits here.
The Mental Health Thrival Kits were culturally adapted for Korean-American and Filipino-American youth.
The Mental Health Thrival Kits were culturally adapted for Korean-American and Filipino-American youth. Check out the adapted Korean and Filipino versions here. A big thank you to LACDMH, our community partners The K.W. Lee Center for Leadership, Search to Involve Philipino Americans (SIPA) Youth Leaders, Giovanni Ortega. and young people from the community, and artists Tracy Lee and Jonalyn San Diego.
Non-profit Name Change
The Directing Change Program and Film Contest (501 c3) non-profit organization changes its name to Youth Creating Change to differentiate the offerings of the non-profit organization from its core initiatives, the Directing Change Film Contest and Hope & Justice Monthly Art and Film Contest.
2024 Program
This program year, 1,315 film submissions were received from 3,810 youth across California. Check out the finalists and video from our award ceremony on our awards ceremony page.
2024 Award Ceremony
The 12th Annual Directing Change red carpet award ceremony was hosted at the United Artist Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, attended by nearly 800 youth and professionals. Special guests Sky Katz, Samantha Stratton, and Alex Heller also accepted Messaging Awards for their work on Surviving Summer, Spinning Out, and The Year Between, respectively. Learn more about the 2024 Messaging Awards here and watch our event reel courtesy of the amazing talent of students from Los Alamitos High School.
