Screens and Wellbeing: Tech's Role in Back - to -School Mental Health

Shairi R. Turner MD, MPH serves as the Chief Health Officer at Crisis Text Line leading the organization’s external policy, advocacy and partnership initiatives related to mental health. She is an internist and pediatrician with expertise in trauma-informed practices. She originally joined Crisis Text Line as the Chief Medical Officer leading the Crisis Supervision Team (2017-2019) and returned in 2020 as Chief Transformation Officer, responsible for guiding the organization’s culture transformation focused on embedding equity throughout the organization. Throughout her career, she has been committed to addressing the mental health epidemic. Dr. Turner has been a featured expert in numerous top-tier and regional media networks such as NBC’s Meet the Press, Scripps News, Good Day DC, CNN, iHeart Radio Podcast with Michelle Williams, Good Day Seattle, HuffPost, to name a few. She also was a co-Host of NIKE’s acclaimed No Off Season podcast series. She is married and the mother of two pre-Med college students.

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Patricia Noel, LMSW is the Mental Health Policy Manager at Discord. Passionate about proactive, holistic, and culturally competent mental health care, her experience includes crisis support and intervention for LGBTQ youth, Black perinatal mental health, and adolescent mental health.

She/Her/Hers

Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes, Ed.D., LPC, MCHES is the Director of Research + Evaluation at Born This Way Foundation, where she spearheads the Foundation’s research strategy and provides scientific expertise in the design and implementation of impactful programs and youth-led initiatives. She also holds a faculty appointment as an assistant clinical professor of the Child Study Center and in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science at the Yale School of Medicine.

With a career spanning over 20 years, Dr. Claudia has been instrumental in leading efforts toward mental health promotion and substance misuse prevention within educational settings. As a prevention scientist and licensed professional counselor (LPC), she brings a unique blend of academic knowledge and practical experience to her approach—strongly emphasizing evidence-based research to inform youth-centered programs, policies, and structures. A core focus of her work is amplifying youth perspectives and experiences, ensuring their voices are central to decision-making processes.

Dr. Claudia’s professional journey began as a public school teacher in Connecticut and a bilingual school counselor in New York City. She was part of the founding leadership team at Bard High School Early College in Newark, NJ. Observing the impact and reach of science, she transitioned to a 10-year career in applied research at the Yale School of Medicine where she was promoted to ladder-track faculty. Her research was funded by the prestigious Yale Center for Clinical Investigation Scholar Award and sponsored by the National Institutes of Health/National Center for Advancing Translational Science. With this funding, she led her team in the development and evaluation of a digital game targeting suicide prevention in young people who misuse substances. Dr. Claudia has disseminated her research widely through publications in peer-reviewed journals and national presentations.

Dr. Claudia holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Applied Psychology from New York University and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Health and Behavior Studies from Columbia University Teachers College. She brings an unwavering commitment to improving youth well-being through her extensive research experience and ongoing work in the field of mental health promotion and prevention.

You can follow Dr. Claudia on Instagram @drclaudiaBTWF and on Twitter at @DrClaudiaSantiF.

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Nicole Owings-Fonner, MA, PMP is the Director of the American Academy of Pediatrics National Center on Social Media and Youth Mental Health where she leads the Center’s strategic direction, operational management, partnership development, and programmatic planning. With nearly two decades of experience in psychology, research, and dissemination, she focuses on health communications and evidence-based practices around technology to improve mental health.

Previously, Owings-Fonner was the Director of Operations and Innovation at the American Psychological Association and author of Let’s Get Technical, a quarterly column reviewing the latest apps and tools for practitioners. She holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Arts in psychology from George Mason University. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband and teenage sons.

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Lindsay is widely regarded as one of the trailblazers in modern mental health prevention and de-stigmatization work on TikTok. She is a licensed therapist, private practice owner and co-host of the podcast TAKE Two. She was selected for Harvard's creator summit and was named in Tiktok's creator spotlight for mental health awareness. She continues to work with Harvard's HappyB 2.0 research project.

Lindsay is not afraid to talk about her own mental health struggles with ADHD, Anxiety & Dyslexia. She has empowered her community of over half a million to start putting their mental health first. Her work has been featured as a segment on Good Morning America and in The New York Times, Vice News, Counseling Today & more.

Kemi is a 17-year-old anti-racism activist from Pennsylvania dedicated to enacting social change. As the ambassador of the Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading's Stand Together Against Racism (STAR) initiative, she utilizes education and dialogue to combat racism. Her efforts have impacted hundreds through projects, events, and workshops. With STAR, she has addressed a wide range of topics, from Allyship through STAR's Ally Workshop Training to cultural celebration, notably through The Power In Our Differences Campaign—a collaborative effort with an anti-racism student group in South Korea to celebrate diversity globally. She was recently recognized for her work and dedication through The Princeton Prize in Race Relations. She is also on the Born This Way Foundation's advisory board, where she creates stories for Channel Kindness and works with the organization to destigmatize mental health. In everything she does, Kemi strives to inspire others to stand together and be the change they wish to see in the world.

Hi! I'm Alexander Allin, a junior from Montgomery County, Maryland. Outside the AAP, I work with Mental Health America and a local DMV organization, Our Minds Matter, to combat school mental health stigmas. Coming from a technology background, I'm excited to work on the YAP to bring awareness to how algorithms outside our control impact our state of mind. To stay well online, I recommend making a "feel-good feed," full of uplifting content, like animal/nature photos and memes!

My name is Jayleen Garcia and I am 16 years old. I am an upcoming senior at Coachella Valley High School and I live in Coachella, California. I am apart of the youth advisory panel for the AAP CoE. I participate in a lot of extracurriculars like being apart of my schools health academy and HOSA. I am my school’s secretary for our 23-24 HOSA year and continuing on as secretary for our 24-25 year. I also do lots of community service throughout the year.

Jeremy Liew is a junior at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, California. He is interested in using creativity, storytelling, and technology to create change. He founded www.teenagehandbook.com, which encourages teens to digitally journal and accumulates creative expressions by teens for teens on teen issues. Jeremy is an inaugural member of Snap’s Council for Digital Wellbeing, was a TIME for Kids Kid Reporter, and the host of Pinna’s Podcasters U. He participated in UCSF’s AI4ALL and UT Austin's Center for Space Research programs and won awards in design from NASA, in media from UNESCO, and in podcasting from NPR. In Jeremy’s spare time, he enjoys swimming and water polo.

Alanna is the Research & Program Specialist for the Family Online Safety Institute. She leads FOSI's Good Digital Parenting programming and research projects, and supports FOSI's communications efforts. Her prior experiences focused on both media and education. Alanna has taught English and communications courses at both the high school and college level, and concentrated on the subject of media literacy education during her master’s program.

Alanna has a master’s degree in media studies from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She also holds undergraduate degrees in both Public Relations and English from Penn State University, and is a Fulbright alumna.

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