_{Welcome Innovation Fellowship Fall 2026 Cohort}

This past week, we kicked off our Fall 2026 Innovation Fellowship at the Thrive Center—seven organizations transforming mental health and well-being for children and families.

We are so proud to welcome the following organizations to our Thrive Innovation Family:

• Canopy Children's Solutions
• Dr. Katz
• Fatherlink AI by Fathers' Uplift
• Homeboy Industries
• Ladder Health
• Learn to Play
• Understood for All

These fellows are working to meet families where they are, at home, in schools & classrooms, in hospitals & doctors’ offices, or in local community centers. And each organization serves youth and families by working with the people closest to them, creating “mamapreneurs” like Learn to Play or therapeutic community partners like Ladder Health. 

Each of these organizations utilizes approaches grounded in the principles of co-creation, allowing for cultural relevance, adaptability, responsiveness, and genuine community transformation. Whether serving local communities, entire states, or across countries, the Fall 2026 fellows are each dedicated to upholding evidence-based practices, building alongside families and communities, and keeping accessibility at the forefront.

We spent the last week together pairing expert advisors at the Thrive Center with these incredible fellows. We reviewed logic models and goals, shared passions, and connected as a community bound to a shared goal of seeing families thrive.

Over the next three months, these fellows will work alongside the Thrive Center network to refine their models, strengthen their evidence base, and expand their reach. We believe these organizations have the ability to help us put wellbeing back where it belongs, inside families, inside schools, and inside daily life. And we look forward to seeing how each of these fellows will alter and lead lasting systems change for families across the globe. 

The Innovation Fellowship @Thrive accelerates community-backed approaches through three-month fellowships. Learn more about our Fall Fellows below.

Canopy Children's Solutions

Fellows: John Damon, Chief Executive Officer, Shea Hutchins, Chief Solutions Officer, Terry Hight, Chief Operating Officer, Carla Lewis, Chief Data and Technology Officer

We serve Mississippi's children and families facing behavioral health and developmental challenges by delivering a full continuum of care — from residential psychiatric treatment and outpatient clinical services to in-home family support and therapeutic foster care — so that every child has a path toward stability and long-term wellbeing.

Dr. Katz Inc

Fellow: Nathaniel Hundt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

 We support patients and providers with an AI-powered, clinician-informed mental health platform that personalizes care and reduces administrative burden, helping health systems close the widening gap left by clinician shortages — including a projected 56% growth in the child psychiatrist shortage by 2037.

FatherLink AI by Fathers' Uplift

Fellows: Dr. Charles Daniels, Chief Executive Officer

We serve fathers — particularly Black and Brown men — through the nation's first outpatient mental health and substance use treatment center built specifically for paternal health, offering therapy, reentry support, advocacy, and workforce development to remove the barriers that keep fathers from staying engaged in their children's lives.

Homeboy Industries

Fellows: Maria Flores, Director of Youth Services, Mikala Rahn, Chief of Research Evaluation and Strategy

We serve formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated men and women through the world's largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program, offering a therapeutic community, wraparound services, and job training so participants can redirect their lives and become contributing members of their families and communities.

Ladder Health

Fellows: Mitch Mudra, Chief Executive Officer; Arianna Pacheco, Community Partnership Manager; & Gina Debogovich, Head of Marketing

We serve children ages 0–6 and their families by delivering virtual-first, AI-enabled speech, occupational, physical, and feeding therapy that activates parents and caregivers as therapeutic partners, cutting wait times for pediatric developmental care from months to days — especially for Medicaid and rural families who face the steepest access barriers.

Learn to Play

Fellow: Priyanka Handa Ram, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Eashwar Ramesh, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

We serve young children and families across Botswana by training local mothers ("Mamapreneurs") to lead mindful, play-based early childhood playgroups in their own communities, closing the early learning gap — where as few as 15% of 2–5 year-olds access early childhood education — while creating sustainable jobs for women.

Understood For All

Fellows: Justine Bassman, Vice President & Shelby Coyne, Director of Product Marketing

We serve the 70 million people in the U.S. with learning and thinking differences like dyslexia and ADHD by providing free, expert-vetted tools, information, and community support, working toward a world where all minds are understood and can thrive.

Interested in connecting with the Innovation Hub fellows as a potential mentor or supporter? Please email us at innovationhub@georgetown.edu