Tom Osborn

Mental health innovator

TED Fellow Tom Osborn is working to improve mental health for young people across Kenya.

Why you should listen

Tom Osborn is the founder and CEO of Shamiri, a youth-led organization providing affordable, evidence-based mental health care to young people across sub-Saharan Africa, and especially Kenya, where 45 percent of young people struggle with mental health problems. In a region where mental health professionals are scarce and stigma limits help-seeking, Shamiri implements affordable and personalized mental health interventions in community-based settings. A Harvard graduate, Osborn was named to the global Forbes "30 under 30" list for social entrepreneurship at age 19.

Tom Osborn’s TED Talk

Tom Osborn
A new way to help young people with their mental health
6 minutes 32 seconds
TED Fellow Tom Osborn wants more young people to have access to the mental health support they need. With the Shamiri Institute, he and his team are training 18- to 22-year-olds to deliver evidence-based mental health care to their peers in Kenya -- which has only two psychiatrists for every million people. Hear how their community-first, youth-oriented model could become a template to help kids across the world lead successful, independent lives.
Posted Dec 2021

More news and ideas from Tom Osborn

Live from TEDMonterey
Shaping the future: Notes from the TED Fellows Session of TEDMonterey
August 3, 2021
The TED Fellows are known to be a range of multifaceted souls, making possible the impossible. The eight speakers and one performance on stage at TEDMonterey exemplified this year’s (and every year’s) cohort of amazing people shaping the future and rising to the challenge of making the world better than it’s been left. The event: […]
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Tom Osborn

Why you should listen

Tom Osborn’s TED Talk

More news and ideas from Tom Osborn

Shaping the future: Notes from the TED Fellows Session of TEDMonterey