- Implementing Organization: AFSEC
- Type: Ecosystem Catalyst Grant
- Location: Colombia
Our Ecosystem Catalyst (EC) Grants help scale youth-led ideas, remove barriers to mental health prevention and promotion support, and test how youth-led innovation can work within and improve existing systems.
Ecosystem Building in Colombia
In Colombia, national policies currently prioritize strong family connections and supportive school environments, positioning communities and educational systems as vital spaces to develop innovative solutions that strengthen family dynamics and support young people and their caregivers.
The Ecosystem Catalyst Project
Through AFSEC (Alianza para el Fomento del Aprendizaje Socioemocional en Colombia)—founded by Coschool in 2019 and now composed of 65 organizations—Coschool will design and pilot a Mental Health Policy Implementation Toolkit. This toolkit will provide schools and education secretariats with practical resources and guidance to implement mental health policies at the school level.
Through a comprehensive landscape analysis and the pilot implementation of the toolkit in 15 schools across five prioritized cities, AFSEC aims to generate evidence on feasibility and inform pathways for policy integration. Alongside this, they mobilize stakeholder engagement and foster collaboration among government, schools, and the social sector to drive nationwide adoption of the toolkit, ensuring that policies translate into meaningful improvements in the mental health and well-being of Colombian youth.
