Mental Health Funding Circle Spring Update

By Peter Brietbart, Lily Y, Ambitious Impact @ 2025-08-04T12:18 (+65)

Hi all! 

The Spring 2025 round of the Mental Health Funding Circle went well, and we're thrilled to be supporting seven organisations we believe are doing evidence-informed and deeply impactful work across global mental health and wellbeing. This round saw $731,000 committed by participating funders.

We had many more strong applications than we were able to fund. The shortlist reflects tricky decisions among a pool of fantastic candidates, many of whom we hope to support in future rounds. 

Here’s who received grants this round:

• Action for Happiness – $64,000 to expand their digital programme, public campaigns and educational content promoting mental wellbeing in the UK.
• ACTRA – $105,000 to scale cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)‑based group programmes and empower at‑risk youth in Colombia.
• Finemind – $100,000 to deliver community-led therapy in Uganda using trained lay health workers.
• Happier Lives Institute – $200,000 to continue their work to identify the most cost-effective ways to improve global wellbeing and happiness.
• Mental Health Literacy Collaborative – $100,000 to scale up create a foundational training educational framework of mental health literacy in US schools and communities.
• Overcome – $150,000 to scale up free volunteer-led teletherapy including for underserved communities in low- and middle-income countries.
• The Little Lantern – $12,000 to develop an India-based platform offering free consultations with volunteer psychologists.

We’d also like to take a moment to thank outgoing MHFC chair and mental health champion Will Troy, who has been a driving force behind the MHFC since its inception. His dedication and hard work built the foundation for what the Circle is today, and we couldn’t be more grateful. 

The next round will soon be open for applications and will close 15th September 2025 (we'll make a separate post about how to apply shortly). 

About the MHFC: Mental health remains one of the most neglected areas in global health, despite being a leading driver of suffering worldwide. The Mental Health Funding Circle brings together a small group of effectiveness-minded funders who meet twice a year to collaboratively evaluate and fund the most impactful projects we can find.

If you give — or are considering giving — at least $50,000/year to global mental health and would like to participate in future rounds, we’d love to hear from you. If you’d like to join please get in touch.