In 2015, mindyourmind celebrated its 10 year anniversary. TEN YEARS!

In that time we've:

• launched a website that developed into a robust and multi-faceted program
• initiated, explored and participated in conversations taking place with young people about their lives and their health
• co-created games, apps, blogs, tools and research projects with many, many young people and community partners
• lived through a program closure
• outlived MySpace
• evolved through the shift from desktop to mobile
• seen an exciting change in the way people view mental health

And most importantly, we've tried all along to celebrate and acknowledge the massive contributions young people are capable of by engaging with them and valuing their experiences as the truth:

"mindyourmind inspires me because they’ve shown me the value in collaboration. They have taught me to become more open-minded and connected with my community...the organization operates like a family. I have always felt valued and supported, and they have inspired me to value and support others in the same way. I have developed many meaningful and reciprocal relationships from this organization." ~ Youth Participant

Hundreds of youth and young adults have gifted us thousands of hours of their time to co-creating resources with us that have garnered millions of online interactions. It's astonishing, exciting, hopeful, challenging and sometimes frustrating work. Along the way, other community partners have realized how indispensable youth are when they are invited in to participate in projects in a meaningful way:

"The youth-adult partnership demonstrated that it is critical to involve youth in initiatives that affect them, and showed me that having both youth and adults at the table provides a comprehensive and holistic perspective, to the benefit of the initiative and all stakeholders involved." ~ Community Partner

Through the year we asked young people and community partners to think about words they would use to describe mindyourmind, as well as what youth engagement means to them. The answers we received are so encouraging. The mindyourmind team has taken to looking through them whenever we need to be reminded of why we do the work we do.

So, to all of you, from our past, present and future, we want to say "thank you".

2015 has been a year of ups and downs, of big changes and plans as we move into the next phase of our development. We value, now more than ever, the contributions, kind words and faith our partners and users have in us.

We wanted to figure out a way to process and share our thoughts and reflections on 10 years of mindyourmind, so the team gathered all together under the disco ball and made a zine for you.

Here's to the next 10 years of health, innovation and partnership!

- The mindyourmind team