Changing Course

We embarked on Be Change years back at the behest of our partners. There was an identified need for a platform that helped young people to create mental health resources in their communities.

Over the years, the idea morphed into a crowdfunding platform with the idea of additional mentoring support. As we spent dozens of hours upon hours developing this model, a few truths emerged. The crowdfunding market was crowded and the model we were pursuing would not be sustainable. And so we came to the difficult decision to end our crowdfunding pursuit.

We are thankful for the sea of Be Change support we have received in the last few years. We are ever-so-grateful for the wisdom and countless hours so many of you have lent to the project, and if you have thoughts on the path we should take, please send us an email at talkingchange@mindyourmind.ca

Yes, there is still a need to find avenues to support young people as changemakers in their communities. We know that the health of our young people is tied to the overall wellness of the communities that they live and work in. We will continue working to find ways to help youth be more impactful in their communities. Again, please reach out via email if you want to shape this.

Thank you for supporting this dream! We look forward to your continued support in all other spheres of our existence.

With gratitude,
The mindyourmind Team

What is Be Change?

Imagine this:

You are a young person who has an amazing idea about how to improve wellness in your community. You do your research and see that this idea is definitely achievable. You speak to all of your friends and peers and they absolutely love the concept. However, there’s just one problem, you lack the resources and support to make the project a reality. Your great idea doesn’t happen the way you envisioned and the community misses out on something that could have been awesome.

This is the situation that Be Change will, well... change. Be Change is a platform to help young changemakers build their ideas and fund them into reality. Through our crowdfunding platform, young people can choose to raise money for a one-time initiative or an ongoing wellness project. In addition, we will help young people and the organizations they partner with – like our parent organization mindyourmind – to help their ideas go further in equal partnership.

We started working on Be Change in 2013, and have since talked to dozens of key informants who have experience using crowdfunding. They encouraged us to think beyond building a traditional crowdfunding platform. From these amazing conversations, a Co-design team of young people and adults was formed to help us build a platform that provides peer support, partnerships and resources to support their ideas. Everything you see on Be Change today was is a product of this innovative approach.

Our co-design team and key informants identified three priorities:

Peers – By youth, for youth. It is critical to form connections to other changemakers in order to exchange resources, experiences and collaborate as needed
Partners – Be Change will seek to empower youth within organizations, and help partners create successful youth driven projects. Through our comprehensive youth engagement model, we will help inspired youth and skilled adults combine to create change.
Resources –Resources on running your own project can be overwhelming with so much available online. We’ve pulled together a comprehensive list of expertly influenced resources in one spot so that you don’t have to spend hours scouring the internet to find them yourself.