Tanmay Vasudeva
Mental health education should not be optional. Every kid deserves to understand what they are feeling, and every kid deserves someone who gets it. I built CareForBrains because nobody taught the people around me how to be that someone.
Tanmay Vasudeva, 17, from India (now living in the United States), knows what it feels like to be isolated. At 15, while recovering from surgery for a perianal fistula caused by Crohn’s disease, he could barely walk—and when he returned to school, classmates kept their distance instead of offering support.
That experience pushed him to found CareForBrains in May 2024, a nonprofit dedicated to youth mental health education. He built it from nothing—no funding, no adult leadership, no institutional backing—relying instead on determination and the steady support of his father, who stood by him through every surgery and every late night spent building the organization.
Today, CareForBrains has grown into a network of 22 youth-led chapters, with over 800 trained student volunteers delivering mental health education directly to their peers in schools and communities. Each chapter runs its own local programming while also sharing content through its own networks, creating a decentralized digital presence that keeps expanding the organization’s reach—proving that young people don’t need to wait for adults to start changing the world.
Other nominees
Donate monthly
Become a donor and support our work from just €5 a month.
- You make a difference every single month
- Flexible and easy
Make a one-time donation
Support children and young people around the world with a one-time donation.
- Make an immediate impact
- Choose how you want to give
Planned recurring giving
Thanks to tax benefits, your donation can go even further.
- Make a bigger impact with the same donation
- Simple and tax-efficient