Our Mission
Using our collective experiences to empower members of Black communities by breaking mental health barriers and promoting healing through culturally competent education and innovative community care.
Our vision is to become a national leader in community-led Black mental health advocacy and support.
We Value
Being Black-led
Upholding BMHC’s core values by ensuring that the community is served and supported by the people who look like them, while still acknowledging the importance of having allies at the table.
Cultural competency
Providing knowledge and awareness with humility, by respecting cultural diversity across the many intersections and aspects of identity.
Anti-oppression
Implementing alternative systems that promote harm reduction and social justice through our advocacy and radical understanding of unique experiences.
Cultural empowerment
Enabling cultural belonging and understanding by promoting and encouraging self-actualization, acceptance and ethnic awareness.
Community care
Ensuring that through our communal approach, each individual in need within Black communities has access to care and is embedded in an interconnected network.
Our Team
Kristen Young (she/her)
BMHC Co-Director/Administrative Coordinator
Kristen is an information management professional whose work in Black community archives sparked a need to better understand the ways mental health impacts Black history and Black community spaces. Through her own mental health journey, she brings a perspective grounded in education, skill sharing, and non-hierarchy. She has been the administrator behind Black Mental Health Connections Montreal since 2018 creating connections and implementing services that provide community care.
Aishah Seivwright (she/her)
BMHC Co-Director/Program Coordinator
Aishah is an imaginative and solution-oriented project coordinator, who believes supporting mental health through non-hierarchical, and anti-oppressive organizing is a critical step towards meaningful change towards a better future for us all. Aishah brings a deeply grounded perspective on equity, intersectionality and neurodiversity in her work to destigmatize mental health within the Black community as co-director of Black Mental Health Connections Montreal.
Andrea Clarke (she/her)
BMHC Co-Director
Andrea Clarke works at Concordia University supporting and promoting community engagement and social impact. Having a professional/academic background that spans multiple sectors (i.e., community, public and private) she is passionate about pursuing the opportunities that exist in the spaces between siloes.
Samm Reid (she/her)
Project Coordinator
Samm incorporates her passion for community, social justice and realities concerning mental health into her artistic and community projects. She is devoted to creating safe spaces, sharing stories and advocating for youth. Using music and writing as a form of healing, Samm works to instill confidence, self-pride and unity within her community and encourages the freedom of creation, in hopes to awaken others to their power of expression and finding strength within.
Black Mental Health Connections 