A movement reclaiming holistic and ancestral healing for the minds, bodies, and spirits of young people.

We envision a future where every person is a healer—rooted in love, guided by ancestral wisdom, inspired by culture, and empowered by community to care for themselves and one another.

Meet the Team

Meet the healers behind Hidden Healers – a team rooted in lived experience, storytelling, and cultural wisdom.

We do this work because we’ve lived it. Our team carries personal and professional experience navigating trauma, healing, and resistance in under-resourced communities. We know what it means to fall through the cracks—and we also know the power of being caught by someone who sees you.

Chief Partnerships Officer

Maddox (he/they) is a social impact visionary from the concrete jungle of NYC, who believes in the idea of Protopia. Protopia is the idea that every day we can actively work towards the world we want to see. MADDOX is a co-founder of Direct Cash Transfers as an intervention to end youth homelessness, he believes in the role imagination plays in ending youth homelessness. He has expanded the narrative shift beyond a seat at the table and supporting people with lived experience to, not just have a seat at the table but to also be supported to have their own homes both metaphorically and literally. Making sure that people who are directly impacted are at the forefront of the decisions that will impact their lives and that our policies are reflective of the needs of our most marginalized.

Co-founder
Kheira (she/her) is a Muslim Algerian American, is an undergraduate student at George Mason University, passionate about creating spaces [literally] by studying civil & infrastructure engineering and [figuratively] by empowering individuals to create the change they want to see. Her involvement with Our Minds Matter has informed her passion for creating safe spaces that destigmatize mental health and promote wellness. She has also had the chance to share her story at Harvard University’s National Muslim Women’s Summit 2020, The Global Health Leaders Conference at Johns Hopkins University, and advocate with VOICE-IAF, This is My Brave, and Promote Care Prevent Harm. Kheira finds great joy in making others smile and helping them to believe in their best selves!

Chief Executive Officer

Ayanna Kelly (she/her/ella) is a storyteller, advocate, and community builder dedicated to reclaiming ancestral healing for the global majority. As the co-founder of Hidden Healers, she channels her lived experience, deep empathy, and background in human systems to create spaces where healing is accessible, culturally grounded, and transformative. A disabled veteran and former national security professional, Ayanna has worked across government, tech, and consulting, always centering people and equity in her work. She is a proud Afro-Latina, a daughter of Dominican immigrants, and an active voice for mental health advocacy. Through Hidden Healers, she is fully committed to uplifting communities, amplifying hidden healing practices, and ensuring that those often left out of traditional mental health spaces are seen, heard, and supported. She resides in Virginia with her spouse, two children, and chocolate lab.

Co-founder
Mahmoud is an Egyptian-American innovator and holistic mental health leader who combines 15+ years of lived experience with a visionary, systems-driven approach to transform youth mental health. He co-leads the Hidden Healers movement, dedicated to centering ancestral healing practices for BIPOC youth through accessible, culturally grounded approaches, community, and love. This movement includes the MTV Hidden Healers Campaign, a historic initiative that reached over 10 million people, and the Hidden Healing Fund, a $1M partnership with Pinterest and MTV to accelerate holistic healing. As the founder of FloraMind, Mahmoud created one of the first culturally relevant mental health programs for youth globally. Across his initiatives, including FloraMind, campaigns, engagements, and consulting/advising corporations, governments, and nonprofits, Mahmoud's work has impacted over 15 million youth and families, advocating for youth mental health investment and leadership. Mahmoud has been honored at the White House by President Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, MTV, and the Surgeon General as a top youth mental health advocate. Recognized by President Bill Clinton, Ashoka, and Forbes, he is also a Stanford d.School Innovation Fellow. Known for redefining mental wellness, Mahmoud's TED talk on toxic positivity has sparked vital conversations. He serves on the board of Mental Health America and the 988 National Steering Committee for suicide prevention.

WHAT WE DO

Hidden Healers reimagines mental health by reclaiming ancestral healing practices, amplifying community care, and empowering young people from the global majority to heal through storytelling, education, and advocacy.

We’re transforming the lens—expanding what counts as care, and who gets to be seen as a healer.

WHY WE EXIST

New research from The AAKOMA Project’s State of Mental Health of Youth and Young Adults of Color (SOMHYUOC) 2025 reveals:

60%

of youth of color report moderate to severe anxiety and depression

1 in 3

engage in self injury; 1 in 6 have attempted suicide

28.6%

who needed care didn’t get it

Yet, there is hope:

67%

would turn to family, and 64% to friends for support

HOW WE DO IT

At Hidden Healers, we believe healing happens everywhere including in our stories, communities, traditions, and shared power. We organize our work around three interconnected pillars:

We use the power of media to shift the narrative around healing.
- We produce documentaries, short-form videos, and digital campaigns that spotlight everyday healers from communities often left out of mental-health conversations.
- By amplifying culturally-rooted practices, ancestral wisdom, and community-led care, we change who gets to be seen as a healer and what counts as healing.
- Our work invites people — especially young folks from the global majority — to recognize themselves as both healers and healed.
Healing is also about the tools, the context, and experiences that make transformation possible.
- We build toolkits, digital resources, and immersive healing experiences that enable people and organizations to practice culturally-grounded, community-centered healing.
- We partner with schools, nonprofits, institutions to embed healing justice practices without stripping them of cultural authenticity or community roots.
- We believe healing is embodied, participatory and rooted in lived experience so our experiences emphasize connection, culture, embodiment, and shared practice.
Healing justice requires structural change. We advance that change through advocacy and leadership cultivation.
- We launch and support initiatives like our fellowship to elevate emerging healers from under-resourced communities, invest in their leadership, and center their voices in decision-making spaces.
- We engage systems, organizations, and funders to reimagine mental-health support in ways that reflect the strengths, traditions, and care practices of communities of color.
- Through advocacy, we work to reshape policy, practice, and mindsets ensuring that healing is accessible, culturally anchored, and equitable.

OUR COMMITMENTS

Rooted in Ancestry & Culture: We honor ancestral wisdom and culturally-grounded care at the core of our work.
Centered on Community & Youth: We uplift the global majority and especially young people who have been excluded by traditional systems.
Owned by the People: We prioritize lived experience, peer leadership, and shared power.
Accessible & Inclusive: We disrupt assumptions about what healing looks like, who gets to heal, and where healing happens.

Explore our work