EVOLVERE Mental Health: Mental health resources built by students, for students
U of T student-founded startup shares their passion, innovation and vision on building a student-specific mental health support platform.
Mental well-being is not just a trend, but a lifelong journey that requires consistent effort from each individual.
In an interview with The Medium, EVOLVERE Mental Health (EMH), a student-founded startup based at the University of Toronto (U of T), shares how they are working to improve students’ understanding of their mental health.
From the importance of mental health care to providing resources tailored to students, EMH has started a crucial conversation to progress toward sustainable, accessible and impactful mental support.
What is EVOLVERE & how does it serve students?
Founder and CEO of EMH, Tanisha Sylvester, emphasized the organization’s student-centred mission, stating, “We are building an ecosystem where students can come together to build community, co-design resources, and be directed to resources that fit their psychosocial needs.”
Sylvester points out four main goals that EMH is striving towards. It includes equipping students with resources to proactively prioritize mental health, amplifying students’ perspectives in mental health conversations and resource creation, innovating creative applications of peer support, and facilitating sustainable, healthy habits.
To bring their vision to reality, EMH created a digital platform that targets each of its core goals.
“The focal point of our ecosystem is our digital platform,” said Sylvester. “Our interactive forum community is where students can engage in conversations and resource sharing with peers, clinicians, researchers and mental health advocates.”
Aside from its interactive features, EMH’s platform has a catalogue of curated articles written by clinical professionals. Student experiences and student reflections on overcoming mental health challenges are also featured.
In addition, interactive multi-day challenges are provided to help students foster habits suggested in the forum or articles. “Each challenge is a module that includes a series of prompts and activities that students can engage with,” Sylvester explained.
Importance of having a student-tailored mental health platform
Sylvester shares that the key difference of a student-focused platform is that it creates relatability and trust, which larger systems often lack for students.
She elaborated, “After engaging with our platform, students reported that they liked the differentiation of being spoken to. Compared to being spoken at, students feel like they are seen at an eye-to-eye level.”
EMH prioritizes giving students a direct voice in its resource development. “When students lead these conversations, stigma shatters. Our support systems are reshaped, and it changes the mental health cultures we see on campuses for the better.”
Anika Nagpal, co-president of EMH at the Scarborough campus (EMH @ UTSC), added, “For EMH, it’s not about reusing traditional mental health resources. Instead, we build upon it. It’s about ways that we can further contribute to what already exists.”
Nagpal pointed out that EMH gathers resources specifically for U of T students, supporting common challenges like academic stress and a fast-paced environment within the institution.
Innovation based on evidence
EMH has been striving to build their platform based on factual evidence. Sylvester shared that her academic background lies in mental health, specifically within the context of public health. This inspired her to build all of EMH’s products with societal evidence as a foundation.
“My experience of contributing to the development and evaluation of digital resources at U of T is what taught me to ground innovation in evidence.”
Bridget Taylor, co-president of EMH @ UTSC, added, “We’re looking to put out student surveys within specific campuses within U of T. They are just so culturally different in what their needs are. And no singular resource would fit for all three campuses.”
Biggest misconceptions about student mental health
When asked about the biggest misconception about student mental health, Sylvester shared three main points. The first being the notion that mental health only becomes relevant once someone is already struggling. “I think mental health is something that we all need to nurture proactively,” said Sylvester.
The second misconception is that the only kind of “real” support is professional help. “Clinical and reactive care is essential, but so is peer support and community-based proactive support. Specifically at the self-guided end of the resource provision spectrum.”
Sylvester explained that self-guided resources are the first level of mental health care, where most of them hold more free spaces for students to open up.
For the third misconception, she said, “People often treat students as a monolithic group.” Sylvester elaborated that mental health resources are often provided to students in “cookie-cutter” form, where resources are expected to be one-size-fits-all.
This expectation undermines the perspectives and experiences of niche demographics within the overarching student body. Resources then fail to provide students the full support that they need.
With great vision comes great challenge
“The biggest challenge is connecting with diverse student populations,” said Sylvester. She explained that the obstacle does not lie in outreach, as EMH has been able to connect with students from various academic programs.
“However, diversity and inclusivity extend far beyond racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. They also encompass differences in physical abilities, neurodiversity, socioeconomic status and lived experiences.”
Sylvester stressed, “True inclusivity means recognizing the value of the full spectrum of human experiences and perspectives.” Having recognized the complexity of human experience, EMH is actively strategizing to address overlooked aspects in student connection.
EMH for UTM students
As a newly established chapter, Anhthu Hoang, co-president at U of T’s Mississauga campus (EMH @ UTM) shared that their focus is to let the value of EMH be known to students.
“We’re hoping to spread the message that EMH isn’t a platform that is just for the general public. It can definitely be something that’s personalized,” said Hoang.
Initiatives that they have taken include connecting with the Health & Counselling Center to host drop-ins and de-stressors for students during exam periods.
Hoang shared that the appeal of these events is that they are not restrictive. “They are not too structured in a way that students have to attend them. It’s more of a resource where, if they have the time and are interested, they can drop by and connect.”
Other events and tri-campus collaborations
Although EMH has three student-led Chapters across U of T, according to campus locations, the co-presidents of all three U of T campuses participate in regular meetings to ensure the unity of their values. Tri-campus collaborations are also prioritized to connect students with a larger supportive community. For example, a tri-campus summit is being planned to support students.
“It would be a full-day event with speakers, panels, workshops and discussions all centred around student mental health experiences,” said Taylor. “The primary goal is to bridge the silos between campuses and increase their connectedness.”
The change they hope for
Taylor noticed that under U of T’s competitive environment, many students feel the need to mask their struggles during stressful times.
“Something we really want to address is to create a more open space for dialogues and build relationships within campuses to promote effective conversations and support systems,” said Taylor.
“I would also love to see a bigger team of students working towards the same things,” Hoang said. With more students working towards the same goal, it can help ensure EMH’s resources reach its intended audience and help as many students as it can.
Co-presidents of EMH at U of T St. George (EMH @ UTSG), Muhammad Ansar and Ayanika Bhattacharjee, added, “We also want to create a space for memorable experiences to advocate for such a relevant and impactful issue. And create a movement that evolves mental health culture in academic settings.”
Sylvester shared that she wishes to see a cultural and perspective shift towards mental health among students. “We hope to have each conversation and resource that we curate to feel reflective for current students, and be a positive resource for future students who can relate to our messages.”
For EMH, their ultimate goal is to transform the view that mental health challenges are weaknesses. Instead, they strive to lead students to see such obstacles as opportunities for connection, encouragement and growth.
