The Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children’s Mental Health Innovation Awards aims to seed-fund transformative mental healthcare solutions for children and youth across the United States.

The program will support new or piloted projects from direct-service organizations that help address stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues in children and young adults. Awards are made in two categories: the Innovation Awards, which are open to all, and the Next Gen Innovation Awards, which are open to nonprofits founded or led by leaders younger than 32 years old.

Programs must be new or piloted projects from direct-service organizations that will help address the far-reaching challenge of stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues in children and young adults in the United States. Projects must tackle specific issues and address unmet needs, with a goal of educating the public, reducing stigma, increasing access to care, improving equity in mental health, enabling early identification/prevention, enhancing intervention, or fostering peer support, especially among disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. The proposed project can be national, regional, or local in scope.

Each winner will receive seed funding for their new or piloted project, including $100,000 for each Innovation Award winner and $25,000-$50,000 for each Next Gen Innovation Award Winner; expert-led training from industry professionals; networking opportunities to build connections with other nonprofits and potential funders in the youth mental health space; and opportunities to raise their profile and showcase their program.

U.S.-based 501(c)(3) public charities with an annual total revenue under $5 million are eligible to apply. The Next Gen Innovation Awards are open to nonprofits founded and/or led by leaders younger than 32 years old, with more than two years in operation.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Morgan Stanley website.

Deadline: July 7, 2025

Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley joined the ranks of Standard & Poor’s, the International Monetary Fund, and many others with the release of a new report determining that low wages and growing income inequality are slowing economic growth by dampening consumer spending.

http://www.morganstanleyfa.com/public/projectfiles/02386f9f-409c-4cc9-bc6b-13574637ec1d.pdf