Nonprofit Lowdown #387: The Real Mental Health Crisis No One Is Talking About
Host: Rhea Wong
Guests: Lauren Carson (Founder & Executive Director, Black Girls Smile), April Walker (Founder, Philanthropy for the People; Development Lead, Black Girls Smile)
Date: May 4, 2026
Episode Overview
In this Mental Health Awareness Month episode, Rhea Wong convenes a candid and powerful conversation with Lauren Carson and April Walker to address the overlooked mental health crisis facing Black women and girls. Together, they explore the systemic pressures, funding landscape, and the necessity of collective healing within nonprofits, especially for marginalized communities. The discussion is rich with practical strategies, honest truths, and inspiring calls to action.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
The Current State of Mental Health for Black Women & Girls
[01:34–03:22]
- Black Girls Smile provides mental health support for Black women and girls (ages 13–25), with school, community, and virtual programming.
- Societal pressures—political, economic, social—exacerbate mental health challenges for marginalized communities, manifesting as chronic fight-or-flight states.
Lauren Carson [02:32]:
"Everything that we see in greater society, we see within the microcosms of our communities... If we are all in a state of panic and anxiety consistently, our nervous systems are kind of in that fight or flight mode 24/7, 365."
The Funding Backlash: DEI, Mental Health, and Black-Led Nonprofits
[03:22–08:26]
- There was a spike in attention and funding towards racial justice and mental health post-2020—which quickly dissipated.
- Black-led nonprofits haven't seen sustained investment; much of the initial support proved performative or fleeting.
- Persistent barriers remain due to philanthropy's self-protective nature and lack of transparency.
April Walker [04:35]:
"There's no actual long term commitment in this country for the liberation of black people... Now it's worse because we can't use basic words like diversity or we can't use black to say the things that we are actually doing."
Collaboration vs. Competition & The Reality of Nonprofit Mergers
[06:14–09:12]
- Emphasis on partnership over competition: "We are all a piece of the quilt."
- Funders increasingly push for nonprofit collaborations or mergers as a solution to shrinking resources.
- The need for sustainable program models, even as schools and traditional partners face their own funding cuts.
Lauren Carson [06:14]:
"We are in this together... And then adding in the mix, being a woman... that the statistics even go lower than that."
Intermediaries, Funding Networks, and Information Asymmetry
[09:12–14:21]
- Growing trend: nonprofits must access major funders through cohort models or intermediary organizations, which can be extractive or buffer true relationships.
- Power imbalances and lack of honest communication about grant cycles and priorities waste nonprofit leaders’ time and contribute to burnout.
April Walker [11:04]:
"Asking an organization, how are you going to sustain? The answer is by asking you for money again. We're not planning the sunset, so we're going to come back and ask you for money."
Rhea Wong [12:35]:
"If you had a database where you could look and be like, here's the percentage likelihood of these various funders and their funding cycle, et cetera, then you wouldn't waste your time..."
Radical Transparency and Its Direct Impact on Mental Health
[14:21–18:09]
- The stress and uncertainty of funding directly impacts nonprofit leaders' and staff's mental wellness.
- Multi-year commitments and honest communication from funders about renewals or terminations can profoundly improve well-being and organizational stability.
Lauren Carson [14:21]:
"Funders being honest about the likelihood, the renewal process amount, those are the things that help my mental health... not having to stress all year long that we have this budget and making sure I can pay my staff..."
Resilience vs. Recovery: Moving Beyond Suffering
[18:09–23:59]
- "Resilience" is both celebrated and weaponized, often as a justification for underserving Black women and girls.
- True resilience should include rest, recovery, and healing—not just survival.
- Young people, especially, are modeling new standards by setting boundaries and prioritizing wellbeing.
Lauren Carson [19:03]:
"When we talk about resilience, we always talk about the ability to endure, but we don't talk about the other part of the definition, which is to recover and heal."
April Walker [21:45]:
"Resiliency for me came at a cost, that I actually had pain, that yeah, I'm strong, but I don't want to always be strong."
Building New Models for Wellbeing and Leadership
[23:59–27:14]
- The sector lacks diverse models of being; leaders must imagine and model alternatives for the next generation.
- Tangible advice for nonprofit leaders to protect their mental health and their teams: practice intentional rest, seek peer support, set realistic boundaries, and break up tasks into manageable pieces.
Lauren Carson [25:15]:
"I have five things that I have to get done each week...small micro shifts are really important to making sure that you can sustain your wellbeing."
Self-Care vs. Self-Love, and Navigating Burnout
[27:14–28:38]
- Self-care is more than token acts; it requires understanding and responding to the current season of life.
- Leaders must model wellness, create space for team care, and recognize the realities of vicarious trauma and burnout.
April Walker [27:14]:
"Self care is not self love ... understanding the season of your life that you're in is different. And understanding how you might need to shift a boundary or add one is huge."
The Power of Self-Talk, Rest, and Collective Action
[28:38–32:10]
- Becoming aware of internal narratives and self-talk is a subtle but powerful tool for sustaining mental health.
- Tangible advice: embrace honesty in storytelling (for both individual and organizational health) and simple grounding techniques.
Rhea Wong [28:38]:
"Even if I'm sitting and resting, but I'm internally berating myself, that's actually not that helpful either."
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Funding Fatigue:
April Walker [05:52]:
"It's not trendy to support black women and girls at the moment. And so as Lauren and I are working on grants and engaging funders, we're yelling into the abyss."
-
On Sustainability:
Lauren Carson [14:21]:
"Creating that sustainability within an organization can create such expansiveness, such dreaming and can make sure that the foundation of the organization is mentally healthy and well."
-
On Resilience:
Lauren Carson [19:03]:
"Resilience... is not getting to that place where we're healing and we're recovering. And that looks like embedding new practices. Mindset shifts internally but also societally."
-
On Generational Healing:
April Walker [21:45]:
"For me the ongoing lesson, like the forever learning is to be soft, is to give myself a break. Is to rest... My mother doesn't have a definition for recovering and healing. And so the generation that I'm in and learned that we're learning this in real time, trying to apply this in real time when the systems around us don't give a darn."
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 01:34: Introduction to Black Girls Smile and its work.
- 02:32: Societal pressures’ impact on Black women’s and girls’ mental health.
- 04:35: Lack of sustained funding and performative philanthropy.
- 06:14: Collaboration, competition, and new funding models.
- 09:12: Role of funding intermediaries and cohort models.
- 12:35: The problem of information asymmetry in grantmaking.
- 14:21: How transparency from funders directly affects nonprofit leaders’ mental health.
- 19:03: The complex meaning of resilience and its impact on Black girls.
- 21:45: Intergenerational challenges in redefining self-care and strength.
- 25:15: Practical mental health strategies for nonprofit leaders.
- 29:40: Call to action for Mental Health Awareness Month.
- 30:50: The power of mindful breathing as a grounding practice.
Tangible Takeaways & Calls to Action
- Honest Storytelling:
Use Mental Health Awareness Month to tell authentic, year-round stories of need and impact—not just during the campaign. Invite dialogue and community input. (April Walker [29:40])
- Intentional Breathing:
Practice grounding techniques like box breathing, individually and in teams, to support mental health. (Lauren Carson [30:50])
- Rest and Boundaries:
Embrace micro-rests and delegate where possible. Prioritize small, manageable goals over exhaustive to-do lists. (Lauren Carson [25:15])
- Modeling Wellness:
Leaders: lead by example. Show that wellness and asking for support are valued and normalized. (April Walker [27:14])
- Challenge Toxic Resilience:
Shift the conversation toward recovery and healing, not just endurance, and model this for the next generation.
Final Thoughts
This episode challenges listeners to recognize the unspoken mental health burdens facing Black women and girls, especially within nonprofit leadership. Through transparency, authentic relationships, and collective care, nonprofits can resist harmful funding dynamics and begin to heal generational wounds. As Mental Health Awareness Month unfolds, the panel reminds us: the power for change begins with honest conversations, small sustainable practices, and the courage to imagine a different, healthier normal.
For more information about Black Girls Smile and their ongoing initiatives, see the show notes or visit their website.