Mental 360

Mental 360 is a non-profit social enterprise established in 2016 by Bright Shitemi, who founded the organization after his own struggles with depression and suicidal ideation. The goal of Mental 360 is to promote mental health awareness, reduce stigma, and provide accessible and affordable support services to youth and at-risk communities in Kenya.

According to WHO, 1 in 4 Kenyans live with a mental health condition, but awareness remains low, with only about 10% seeking professional treatment. Most instead turn to traditional healers or religious leaders. Mental 360 aims to address this gap through youth-focused programs and community engagement.

Since 2016, Mental 360 has reached over 2 million Kenyans through awareness events and campaigns. A national helpline offering psychological first aid has supported over 10,000 people. The organization also runs in-person and virtual support groups and provides individual counseling sessions on an affordable, tiered payment model.

Key focus areas include stigma reduction, improving mental health literacy, and capacity-building. Mental 360 takes a creative approach, using mediums like art, music, poetry, and storytelling to authentically engage target groups. Interventions are co-designed based on human-centered design and the principle "Conversations Save Lives."

VISION: Healthy Minds, Healthy Communities

MISSION: Strengthening psychosocial support systems for better mental health

PROGRAMS

Mental 360's current programs include:

1. Boma Wellness Clubs in Schools: Youth-led clubs in secondary schools and universities that serve as safe spaces for open dialogue, education, and support. With mental health challenges often arising in the teen years, these clubs help students develop resilience.
2. Community Wellness Centers: Grassroots community hubs providing psychological first aid, support groups, and referral services. By training community members and peer champions (Rafikis) to run the centers, Mental 360 ensures sustainability.
3. The Cradle Arts Festival: An annual festival utilizing performance art to spark dialogue around mental health and direct people to support services.

IMPACT

We believe that those who have walked the journey of mental health challenges are best placed to lead change. That’s why we pioneered our Peer-Based Model, where we train youth with lived experience, our Rafikis, to become peer supporters. Rafikis are more than just volunteers; they are young people who have faced their own mental health struggles, healed, and now dedicate themselves to identifying, supporting, and referring others in distress.

Over the past 8 years, Mental 360 has directly impacted over 100,000 people with psychosocial support and reached over 2,000,000 people with awareness. Mental 360 has also impacted mental health policy by being a lead contributor to the Mental Health Amendment Bill 2018 in Kenya.

Our work goes beyond therapy. We are shifting cultural narratives, fighting stigma and restoring hope. As the organization looks ahead to its 10 year anniversary and beyond, the focus remains on embedding sustainable mental health infrastructure across Kenyan society. By 2030, we aim to provide 30 million youth with access to contextualized peer and professional psychosocial support across Africa.

Your donation will help us serve at risk and underserved people in need of critical mental health care that they would otherwise have no access to. It will also help shift narratives, whose impact will transcend borders.