When you’re a parent, one of the most challenging things you can face is mental health issues affecting your child. It’s difficult to imagine and tougher to discuss when you are in the middle of dealing with the consequences of your son or daughter going through a crisis especially when mental health issues have been left undiagnosed. 

Wendy Ward is a loving mother and passionate advocate who went through exactly this. Turning to her problem-solving nature, she dove headfirst into research that opened her eyes to whole new world of problems needing solutions regarding children’s mental health. 

Did you know? 

Suicide is the second leading cause of death [for] children aged 10-24 

FuturesThrive is the company Wendy founded. Her journey began with the mission to uncover why mental health in kids was not being diagnosed. She focused on better mental health screening and partnering with parents and medical professionals to upgrade a standard that has been unchanged for too long. 

1 in 5 kids suffer from a diagnosable mental health condition 

In this episode, Wendy shares both about her mission to improve mental health screenings and how her mission has evolved to a full-on tech business recognized by the State of Connecticut making an impact. 

Two key ideas Wendy discusses that have been helpful in growing and shaping FuturesThrive: 

• Building a team of people that support the vision and motivate you 
• Focusing on the minimally viable product (MVP) that accomplishes the next best goal. 

The way Wendy’s journey has taken shape over time is truly inspiring. 

“FuturesThrive is really truly creating the tools that can identify and track pediatric mental health easily, early, and often.” 

FuturesThrive has such a powerful message and honorable mission “to start early intervention and prevention the way we do for every other health measure.” 

If you have a child between 9 and 14 years of age, you can be part of the research to move FuturesThrive forward by sitting with your child while they take this survey. 

Connect with Wendy Ward: 

Website 

Twitter 

LinkedIn 

Connect with Nancy Sheed: 

Website 

Twitter 

LinkedIn