The Coalition for Student Wellbeing is proud to introduce the new members of its 2026-27 Council on Student Wellbeing. This group of student leaders and advocates is dedicated to promoting student health and wellbeing on campuses nationwide. These students will shape and engage with all elements of the Coalition’s work to bridge the gap between students and decision-makers through advocacy, collaboration, and education.
Mayeesha Alvi is a sophomore at Yale University studying Psychology and the History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health. Raised in a first-generation Bangladeshi-American community, she is passionate about advancing mental health equity and reducing stigma in underserved populations, and is involved with the Yale Policy Institute and the Yale Global Health Review.
Caitlyn Arnold is a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Massachusetts General Hospital Depression Clinical and Research Program, supporting studies on depression, long COVID, and novel therapeutics under Harvard Medical School faculty. A 2025 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, she co-founded UT’s first university-wide public health research initiative, the Public Health Scholars Program, and served as Mental Health Policy Director for UT Student Government, helping build mandatory mental health modules into orientation for the entire UT System.
Leyli Balaghi is a neuroscience and finance student at Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University, whose advocacy has been shaped by both personal loss and her experience as an international student from Vancouver, Canada. At age 18, she became a dedicated advocate for suicide prevention, serving as an outreach member with Devils 4 Devils and contributing to addiction and neuroscience research through the B.R.A.I.N. Lab at the University of British Columbia.
Joshua Blackwell is a rising senior at the University of Memphis majoring in Political Science. He is passionate about understanding and addressing the isolation many students with disabilities feel within higher education institutions, and hopes to help make campuses more accessible.
Aneesh Chintala is a freshman at the Georgia Institute of Technology double majoring in Neuroscience and Business, and a College of Sciences Dean’s Scholar and 2026 InspirASIAN Scholar. He founded the Teen Gut Health Collective to educate youth on the link between gut health and mental wellness, and has served on the Frisco ISD Superintendent Student Advisory Council, representing over 60,000 students.
Jeremiah Clarke is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin studying International Relations, Plan II Honors, and History. A Larry Temple Scholar and Frank Denius Normandy Scholar, he brings a public service background to the Coalition, having served as a Junior Policy Analyst in the Texas Senate and currently as Student Regent on The University of Texas System Board of Regents.
Tatyana Cloud is a Master of Public Policy student at the University of Houston with a background in criminal justice, psychology, education, and youth development. Her work as an Academic Coach and Registered Behavior Technician, along with her experience as a first-generation college student, has shaped her passion for education policy and advocacy for students who may not always have the resources to advocate for themselves.
Aidan Ellis is an undergraduate at Saint Mary’s College of California studying neuroscience and biology. As a first-generation college student, his commitment to student wellbeing is rooted in seeing how easily people can feel overlooked by systems meant to support them, and he successfully advocated for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to be added to student identification cards at Saint Mary’s.
Sophie Fontecchio is a junior Morehead-Cain Scholar and Honors Carolina student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing a B.A. in Public Policy and Political Science with a minor in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. She is particularly drawn to issues of civic engagement, mental health, youth political participation, and the role of institutions in shaping public trust.
Sapphire Hall is a graduate of Bowdoin College with a degree in Africana Studies and Education and a minor in Sociology, pursuing a graduate degree at Duke University School of Nursing. She spent five years as Head of Social Development for Creative Flow, an international youth organization focused on writing and creative education, further developing her interdisciplinary interests through a Yale University psychology course on happiness and productivity.
Meghan Holt is a rising senior at Fairfield University pursuing degrees in Social Work and English with a concentration in Professional Writing. She serves as a university writing center tutor, Social Work Club Vice President, and Student Representative for the College of Arts & Sciences DEI Committee, and has interned with the Rockland County Department of Social Services and the Child and Family Guidance Center.
Lily Lutz is a freshman at Utah State University studying Political Science, with minors in Economics and American Sign Language. She has been involved in suicide and substance abuse prevention work for about six years and plans to use her degree to become a lobbyist continuing that work.
Peter McGinnes is a biology and neuroscience student at Stanford University whose advocacy is driven by his own lived experience following time in a residential treatment center. He has published op-eds and personal narratives in the San Francisco Chronicle, Akron Beacon Journal, and LearningWell Magazine.
Elle Riva is a rising freshman at Indiana University studying Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation, passionate about building genuine connections and making others feel seen, heard, and supported. Throughout high school, she was actively involved in mental health advocacy through Hope Squad and as a Student Athlete Mental Health Ambassador for Morgan’s Message.
Saran Tugsjargal is a globally recognized youth policy leader at Rice University studying Global Affairs, Social Policy Analysis, and Political Science. She served as an inaugural Student Commissioner on the California Advisory Commission on Special Education, representing over 850,000 students with disabilities statewide, and is a National Youth Fellow with CAPE-Youth under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy.
Lincoln Underwood is a Finance major at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, graduating in December 2027. As Student Advisor for the Center for Ethics in Suicide Safer Care, he contributes to campus suicide prevention frameworks, and as Vice President of Philanthropy for the Interfraternity Council, he organizes bi-weekly mental-health roundtables with the Dean of Students and is building a fraternity-wide initiative to reduce suicide rates among fraternity men.
Shaylan Wilson is a Master of Social Work student at Colorado State University Pueblo, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. As a first-generation college student, she is passionate about expanding access to education to improve mental health and reduce incarceration among Black and Brown youth, and currently serves as CSU Pueblo’s Associated Students’ Government President and student representative to the Colorado State Board of Governors.