YC Spaces: Building Culturally Responsive Mental Health Services

Branding a culturally responsive mental health platform for racialized youth — and what we learned when it didn’t survive.

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Situation

YC Spaces was an ambitious initiative to reimagine mental health services for minority youth. The team behind it recognized that mainstream models often failed to meet the needs of racialized communities — not just in access, but in trust, cultural safety, and representation. The goal was to launch a platform grounded in identity, community, and care — not institutional jargon.

My Role

As strategic advisor and brand consultant, I led the development of YC Spaces’ name, narrative, and positioning. This included audience segmentation, stakeholder alignment, and creative direction — all with a focus on addressing cultural stigma and building credibility in communities where mental health is still a taboo subject.

Action

We began with a competitive and community review, surfacing what young people needed to hear in order to feel safe. Through facilitated sprints, we defined the brand’s voice, core promise, and pathways to engagement. The name YC Spaces — Youth-Centered Spaces — reflected both the literal and symbolic spaces the initiative aimed to hold. We designed the brand to be rooted in softness and strength — a space to be vulnerable without fear. Strategic messaging avoided technical language in favour of story-driven, culturally resonant cues.

Outcome

YC Spaces launched with support from partners and early adopters, generating strong interest and alignment across both grassroots and institutional stakeholders. Unfortunately, the initiative was short-lived — despite early traction, it did not secure sustained funding and is no longer operational. Still, the clarity of the brand and its strong reception served as proof of concept for how equity-informed strategy can shape health initiatives from the ground up.

Why It Matters

Too often, good ideas in mental health fail not because of need, but because of narrative gaps and systemic underfunding. YC Spaces is a reminder that trust-building must start at the very beginning — in the words we use, the audiences we prioritize, and the communities we co-create with. Even in its short lifespan, YC Spaces proved that culturally responsive strategy isn’t a luxury — it’s foundational. The learnings here continue to inform how I approach youth- and equity-centered work across sectors.