Shamiri means "thrive." We are building a future where young people, everywhere, can thrive.

Mental health issues prevent many young people from thriving. Globally, roughly 250 million youths (ages 10-19) struggle with a mental health problem, making it account for 45% of the global burden of disease  among this group.

They reduce quality of life, impair physical health, and limit career opportunities. They also increase risk of risky behaviors, such as substance abuse, violence, and unhealthy reproductive health behaviors and can lead to lifelong socio-economic difficulties. Most critically, mental health issues contribute to death and suicide, with 1 million lives lost globally each year due to these issues.

The mental health treatment gap is large (>80% in African countries). With nearly 500m young people aged 14-to-21 in the Global South, we see this as a massive opportunity for transformative impact. As such, we have to build a model that is replicable and scalable around the world.

At Shamiri, we’ve built such a model that utilizes lay-providers to deliver effective, brief, de-stigmatized, and evidence-based "low-touch" therapy within a tiered care model that allows for escalation to an expanded pool of providers including social workers and therapists. The Shamiri model is one of the most cost-effective youth mental health interventions out there, and our vision is to scale to millions of young people in the coming years.