Meet Ellen Goncharov

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ellen Goncharov a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ellen, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Finding my purpose was easy, it was a issue that needed to be addressed. Every day, countless students walk through campus carrying invisible weights, burdens no syllabus can teach them how to lift. Those burdens were a little too much to carry at 14; leaving me stuck mentally and physically. Growing up in an Eastern European household, advice from my grandparents could be as extreme as telling me to drink alcohol for mental health. I realized I needed to shift from feeling trapped to taking action and become the spark for Light Up Project, a teen-led nonprofit I founded to help others carry their weight. Starting with nothing more than an Instagram, I realized a page wasn’t enough. Not everyone has social media. I began outreaching to hundreds of organizations.What started as a way to navigate my own challenges has grown into an international effort, now recognized as one of the largest teen-led nonprofits, connecting students from UCLA’s pre-med club to classrooms across Asia all sharing the mission of destigmatizing mental health. Want to give a shoutout to Cheer Ups Projects Founder Yuchen who is the mastermind and designer for the start of it all.

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 Project, is a student-led mental health organization that aims to destigmatize mental health through peer support, peer connection, and education. Light Up has five main sections: the Column, Art Up and Events, Team Social Media, and the Bring New Podcast Team. The Column publishes original articles our members wrote about mental health; Art Up creates illustrations; Events organizes fundraisers, workshops, and other events worldwide. The Podcast team is our new department, making podcasts to spread awareness, and we are on Spotify. Team Social Media is our current most notable team. Our team, Instagram, makes posts with averages of 100-150 likes per post and a following of over one thousand across 50 and more posts.

2023 Attended online conferences.
2024 Hosted online conferences.
2025 Attended conferences in person.
2026 Potential opportunities to speak at conferences.

We plan on expanding into high school chapters so students can lead mental health and neuroscience work directly in their own communities. We are also preparing to speak at more in person events and continue growing our media presence. As CEO, I am focused on spreading the word and building meaningful partnerships. We hope to collaborate with college campuses as well, creating a bridge between teens and university programs to strengthen mental health education and outreach.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I always say this in every interview I have ever done: “No for now does not mean no forever.” You can be rejected from opportunities, programs, or positions and still find a path that is meant for you. What is meant to happen will work out, and patience is a major part of that.

One of the most important qualities in my journey has been passion. A lot of people reach out asking if something will look good on a college application, but that mindset takes away the purpose of meaningful work. A nonprofit or passion project should not be a ticket into college. I think about it this way: what are you going to do after college? Real passion solves real problems, and it continues long after an application is submitted.

Another key quality is being able to admit when you are wrong and ask for help. In the mental health space especially, experiences are different for everyone, and no one has all the answers. Knowing when to ask questions, learn from others, and listen to people’s stories has helped me grow as a leader.

Lastly, patience ties it all together. Growth takes time, and the best opportunities often show up when you are consistent, authentic, and willing to keep going even when the first answer is no. My advice for people early in their journey is to focus on what you genuinely care about, stay open to learning, and trust that the right path will find you if you keep showing up with honesty and purpose.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Yes, we are always looking to partner and collaborate with organizations that work in mental health, neuroscience, neuroengineering, and human rights. These fields connect strongly with our mission, and partnerships help us expand our impact and reach more students.

We also welcome collaboration with groups focused on public policy and law, since my long term goal is to work in those areas as well as medicine and eventually pursue a career as Surgeon General.

If anyone reading this is interested in working together, you can contact me directly at [email protected] . I am always open to meeting at conferences, sharing ideas, and building projects that support youth mental health and scientific education. Let’s make it happen.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lightuproject.weebly.com/
• Instagram: @ellengoncharov, @light.upproject
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-goncharov-82744533b
• Other: Check out my other features

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