Meet Ellen Goncharov

We were lucky to catch up with Ellen Goncharov recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ellen, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?

I think realizing there is a deeper issue helps inspire initiative but generosity has to come from within it doesn’t just appear for me at least mental health is often overlooked in the healthcare system and having that be a issue stemmed gave us a purpose for generosity.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Light Up is a teenage-run organization dedicated to destigmatizing mental health. We have 500+ Participants Worldwide From 22+ Countries. We want to shine a light on different aspects of mental health and bring attention to them in ways that are not shameful through our departments. We take an interdisciplinary approach to Mental Health. Light Up has five main sections. Column- The Column publishes original articles our members wrote about mental health. Art Up- Art Up creates illustrations to connect to mental health. People can earn hours through our many collaborations. Events- organizes fundraisers, workshops, and other events worldwide. We have hosted events in 5+ countries. Team Social Media- We are here to educate those who need access to resources! We cover essential topics and collaborate to expand our knowledge on different subsections of mental health—our Instagram @light.upproject.
50+ Posts
1,800+ Followers
100-150 average like count
30+ Collaborations
We also have our brand new Tiktok Account @light.upprojectt
Podcast Team: We also have a podcast that informs individuals to destigmatize mental health! @Light It Up on Spotify! We launched our new Instagram called @light.ituppodcast.
So, I have been organizing and leading events with a lot of experience and leadership skills, and I have many projects under my belt.
I am also an APP Intern, and we can promote our event on their Have a Nice Day App.
I had The chance to work under an app that promotes a giving environment and brings awareness to fundraisers, nonprofits, causes, and. I work closely with the Marketing Team to think of ideas to promote the app “The Social Giving App” with a team of around ten teenagers connected to my nonprofit Light Up. My specialized focus is on mental and public health in all aspects of life. I have also made an appearance on their page with my projects Mindful Moments, a 30-day mental health challenge, and Color Healing, a collaboration with a teen nonprofit called Color in Dreams, where with Light Up, we gave a chance for teens to earn ongoing hours making letters and color pages for hospital patients, 30-day outdoor mental health challenge a brand new start where teens take pictures and explore summer outside in collaboration with Eunoia Global Health and Pea Exercise Therapy. A brand new launch project is called the Light it Up App, where I have been working with Buildspace Season 5 to work on a one-stop shop for mental health.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think patiences is one key factor that is overlooked as a international non profit there was a time zone gap between me and Yuchen the founder but we were able to connect and without her I would not be here at Light Up. I think also patiences in facing rejections is important I have had many people tell me no but for me I believe you only need one yes. I think also persistences ties in with patiences very common choosing to keep going and not give up like Bruce Lee said, “Persistence, persistence, and persistence. The Power can be created and maintained through daily practice – continuous effort.” An area of knowledge I think really helped me with leading Light Up Project was my experience with Mental Health and being involved at school however I am not a expert I do wanna pursue this field in the future and everyday is a day to learn more.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Any psychologist or neuroscientist or experts in the fields of mental health and the brain would be a good help for our organization since we still need the experts insights on mental health we would be happy to collaborate or do any potential research under assistants.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Have a Nice Day App Instagram, Yuchen She (founder of Light Up Art Up Images), Light Up Website

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