OUR IMPACT
It started with a question. It TURNED INTO A CALLING.
In the fall of 2018, we invited a group of teens and young adults into a studio to film an open, unscripted conversation about mental health.
As the cameras rolled, what emerged was connection, relief, and the undeniable power of being seen and heard.
By the end of filming, each young person shared how much the experience had already shifted something in them.
That’s when we knew, without a doubt:
“This needs to happen now — and it needs to happen everywhere.”
shifting Through the Years
2018
The Beginning
We brought cameras into a studio for a safe conversation, but what we witnessed was more than raw honesty — it was transformation that sparked hope for a profound movement.
Our first filming experience gave young people space to be seen, heard, and validated. It reminded us just how powerful real conversations with each other can be.
Watch our first shift
With the success of our Seed & Spark crowdfunding campaign, we ended 2019 with $55K raised — and a chance to produce a kickoff show with the support of campus leaders, students, filmmakers, experts, influencers, and advocates around the country.
2019
Sparking a Movement
2020
ShiftStarter Series Launch
While the world was forced to paused for COVID, we went live.
Our ShiftStarter IG Live series invited young adults, creators, and advocates to speak openly about mental health - and about moments when starting the conversation made a real difference.
The series demonstrated that vulnerability alongside peers and advocates online can become a catalyst for IRL connection.
2021
Shift Wellness Rallies Go Virtual
In a year marked by disconnection, we brought people together virtually. The Shift Wellness Rally series offered stigma-busting conversations, guided practices, and mental health tools to communities across the country. The Shift Wellness Rally Los Angeles enabled presenting organization NAMI Westside LA to rally with partners, affiliates and friends to create strong messages of support for students, families and activists alike.
The Shift Wellness Rally Chicago, in collaboration with Rincon Family Services and Recovery International, engaged communities, organizers and activists the same to put into words that support was available.
The groundbreaking series earned an Anthem Award for its innovative, community-centered approach to wellbeing.
2022
ABCs of Mental Strength Kicks Off
With collabs continuing to build, in 2022 we provided a new kind of tool kit to our community through ABCs of Mental Strength, a social series to build our mind muscles one exercise at a time.
This 26-post series ran for 3 “seasons” that year, providing an easily organized, short-form way to try something on for the moment, the day, or in the future.
2023
the Shift foundation launcheS
We believe that each and every life can benefit from engaging in conversations about mental health as an access to a world of wellbeing.
That’s why in 2023, we supported the launch of The Shift Foundation, to help teens and young adults have access to mental health practices and resources that allow them to thrive.
We were delighted to see many of our early Shift promo participants in attendance.
We honored Anthony Gallegos with a ShiftStarter Award for seeking resources and support after realizing, during filming with The Shift in 2018, that his journey of exploration - within himself, his community, and this lifetime - was just beginning.
2023 - 2024
a shifting industRy
Change can’t happen at an individual level without the support of others facing similar challenges. The creator industry has taken many hard hits in the realms of work-life balance, income stability, and emerging technology. In early 2023, we partnered with the Producers Guild of America to deliver a powerful group of panelists, and moderate a conversation about the future of creating around mental health themes.
This kicked off our Mental Health Movies in the Making online panel series, which explored various themes across the next year.
2025
Shift sessions go live
In 2025, our creator community initiated supporting active online experiences that could help shift a viewer’s state.
Our Shift Sessions pilot, sponsored by Medicinal Media, brought back lovable Laughter Yoga teacher Ifacho Okeke, who first appeared in our LA Wellness Rally.
We produced over a dozen additional Shift Sessions on Instagram Live that can now be found on The Shift and YouTube, providing access to tools like breath work, journaling, meditation, inner child work, hypnotherapy techniques, and even friendship as a wellbeing practice.
You can find these sessions and more on theshift.com.