Introduction
Jack.org is a leading Canadian nonprofit organization, focused on working to ensure that young people are comfortable talking about their mental health and are learning to support one another, so that those who need help get the support they deserve. Jack.org achieves these goals through programs that train and empower youth to directly identify and dismantle barriers to youth mental health in their communities. Together, their in-person and digital programs have reached over 1 million youth across Canada to date.
I was amazed by the passion, commitment, strength, and courage of Eric, the Jack.org founder, who was able to turn a personal tragedy into a great and inspiring mission impacting youths across Canada and the world, and I am very proud that Oliver Wyman had the privilege to contribute to such missionRamy Farha, Partner
Scope
Over the course of an 11-week engagement, Oliver Wyman led a stakeholder engagement and secondary research process to define the challenges in the youth mental health space and understand Jack.org’s role in addressing them. We conducted workshops with Jack.org’s young leaders and staff members, ran surveys with the broader Canadian youth population and Jack. org’s donor base, and prepared Jack.org’s executive director to conduct interviews with experts in the industry. We also conducted a quantitative feasibility analysis that supported the goal setting process of the five-year strategy.
Jack.org is incredibly grateful for the pro bono work of Oliver Wyman. The time, energy and passion of the Oliver Wyman team truly helped us develop an aspirational and well-constructed strategy for the next 5 years. Their professionalism, support and expertise were invaluable, and we appreciated their flexibility and they adapted to the changing needs of the project. Our sincere thanks!Eric Windeler, Executive Director
Impact
Working closely with Jack.org’s executive director and senior management team, Oliver Wyman was able to recommend a vision for the organization’s five-year strategy. Oliver Wyman’s research highlighted a need to place an increased emphasis on activating and sharing the youth voice along with ongoing mental health education efforts. The proposed strategy reflected this through tangible programmatic changes and an approach to better optimize allocation of staff time. In aggregate, these changes will enable Jack.org to broaden their reach, while achieving a deeper impact with their most engaged youth audiences.
Speaking directly with the youth across the country who are most engaged and passionate with the topic of mental health was truly inspiring and reaffirmed my belief in Jack.org’s approach to youth empowerment. Given the right tools and resources, youth are the greatest catalyst we have to achieve to positive social change!Ahzam Ahmed, Consultant