Healing Young Minds

Healing Young Minds | SDG 3&10

Podcast Trailer

Heidi is advancing solutions to the youth mental health crisis through Speak Our Minds, an organisation focused on building effective care systems for young people. Through advocacy and reform, it brings together providers, families, policymakers, and communities to expand access, reduce disparities, and ensure equitable, lasting mental health systems for youth.

Episode Introduction

Credo Voices, the podcast where we bring you inspiring stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I’m your host, Awele Okigbo, the CEO of Credo Advisory. For generations, youth mental health has been neglected, forcing families to navigate a system that is often inaccessible and ineffective. According to a report by National Survey of Children’s Health, NSCH, more than 5.3 million adolescents ages 12 to 17 years, 20.3% of adolescents, had a current diagnosed mental or behavioral health condition in 2023. Across the United States, millions of children struggle to get the mental health care they need with insurance gaps, policy failures, and systemic barriers standing in the way. On today’s episode of Credo Voices, we sit down with Heidi Baskfield, President and CEO of Speak Our Minds, a nonprofit fighting to transform the youth mental health system. Heidi sheds light on the urgent need for policy reform, the everyday struggles families face, and the innovative solutions her organization is championing. Through their work, Speak Our Minds is advancing SDG 3, good health and well-being, and SDG 10, reduced inequalities, ensuring that mental health care is accessible, equitable, and effective.

Heidi Baskfield

Storyteller | Innovator | Advocate

Heidi Baskfield is a distinguished leader in law, policy, healthcare, and social change. For over two decades, she has dedicated herself to improving systems that serve children and youth. She is the President and CEO of Speak Our Minds, a national movement focused on transforming youth mental health systems to ensure timely, effective, and equitable care.

Heidi’s career spans influential roles, including Vice President of Population Health and Advocacy at Children’s Hospital Colorado, legislative liaison to former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, and attorney with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Colorado Protection Agency for People with Disabilities. Her expertise bridges law, politics, and healthcare, giving her a unique perspective on systemic reform.

Beyond policy and advocacy, Heidi founded Rebel With A Cause, a nonprofit film company that produces award-winning documentaries that have been featured on PBS and in the U.S. Capitol. The company amplifies urgent issues affecting children and families.

Driven by a passion for bold thinking, innovation, and collaboration, Heidi champions health, education, and social outcomes for young people. Her mission is clear: to build comprehensive care systems that treat mental health with the same urgency as physical health.