An end-of-year letter from our President and CEO, Rebecca O. Bagley:

To tell you the truth, 2025 has felt like many years packed into one.

The political, social, and technological volatility of this year forced us to work at an accelerated pace, particularly as health care programs underwent significant change and uncertainty. In this climate of disruption, alignment and innovation continued to anchor us. Our organization — and the entire mental health community — pushed forward with a remarkable set of outcomes, strategies, and plans that took shape despite these challenges — and in direct response to them. 

Now, we enter 2026 with clear-eyed determination and hope for progress. 

The Formation Effect: Powering an Aligned, Effective Movement

We can credit so much of our resilience to the formation effect — when people move together with shared purpose, their momentum and force multiply. The 90-90-90 goals continue to provide this vital cohesion.

In fact, we held two Alignment for Progress events in Chicago and D.C. Hundreds of senior leaders across diverse fields engaged in conversations around pressing problems. We engineer convenings as laboratories, opportunities to define, prepare, and stress-test our movement’s strategy, so when it’s go-time, we move as one.

In 2025, that streamlined response was not optional — it was essential.

Proof That Alignment Drives Real Wins

• When the administration announced it would reconsider the federal parity rule, we rallied the coalition, delivering strategies and evidence that can guide the administration. Simultaneously, we pushed state-by-state progress, delivering four State Parity Gold Standards and advising almost 275 frontline leaders from 30+ states through the revived State Parity Workgroup.
• Amid major shakeups across the health care landscape, the mental health community stood united. As the newly appointed Chair of the CEO Alliance for Mental Health, I was proud to see leaders from 15 organizations representing millions of Americans deliver clear priorities for Congress — and a message: the mental health community is a force for good in a crisis that affects every American.
• Alignment didn’t stop at government. Collaborating with the McKinsey Health Institute, we published tactical guides that Fortune 500 employers and states will soon pilot to strengthen workforce mental health. Across sectors, we’re printing the blueprint for change and putting it in the hands of the people building it.

Futureproofing Health Care: Developing Solutions for the Times

In tech circles, we hear about futureproofing — minimizing shocks to the system and creating viable long-term solutions. It is undeniable that we have to futureproof mental health and substance use care — and move swiftly into new conversations so we can steer the trajectory while the future is still malleable.

This role is central to The Kennedy Forum. You may have seen Patrick in KFF, Forbes, The Hill, or on Meet the Press. You might have caught Amy’s PBS documentary Mental Health Care in America or heard about her appointment to NJ Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill’s transition team. You may have even run into me or the Kennedys at Davos, Lake Nona Impact Forum, Milken Global, events at the U.N. General Assembly (among others), or seen incredible panels I was honored to join alongside leaders like Dr. Chelsea Clinton.

These moments go beyond visibility — they reflect our superpower: showing up to lead when ideas are forming, to influence the fate of mental health care at its most pivotal moments.

For instance, long before the term brain economy took off, we were elevating brain health on the global stage. From Davos to our recognition as a Pathfinder organization in the Brain Economy Action Forum, we’ve helped shape future economies and societies by cultivating healthy brains.

From Breakthrough Thinking to Real-World Action

As we develop and test new ideas for the future, we meaningfully weave them into our work. In 2025, our policy team was operating at full throttle, generating breakthrough ideas with the power to transform the future, especially for our young people. Among their many initiatives:

Our youth mental health work will accelerate in 2026. Our Chief Policy Officer will expand on his research on the long-term returns of investing in young people — using advanced LLMs to uncover upstream drivers of declining youth mental health, and building open-source budgeting tools in partnership with S&P Global. Meanwhile, a forthcoming Brain Health Economic Council report will reframe the economic power of prevention, laying the groundwork for a new era in youth mental health funding.

We’re also removing the structural barriers that keep lifesaving early-intervention programs — like coordinated specialty care — from reaching the young people who need them. A multi-system pilot is paving the way for consistent, scalable billing practices that can be replicated for other codes.

System-wide, we’re delivering practical blueprints for change. In collaboration with the McKinsey Health Institute, we’ve created tactical guides that Governors and Fortune 500 executives will soon pilot to strengthen workforce mental health. And we’re elevating brain health as a national priority through our ongoing work as a Pathfinder organization — ensuring leaders not only recognize the value of healthy brains but act decisively to protect them.

The work ahead will demand even more from us — more precision, courage, and partnership — which is why I’m asking you to lean in, stay engaged, and continue fueling the ideas and actions that will move our movement forward. 

Stay connected to The Kennedy Forum for updates on mental health work in 2026!