When 18-year-old Dan Maxwell took his own life in 2013, his parents, supported by Dan’s friends, founded DMAX Foundation to develop student-led mental health DMAX Clubs on college campuses. When Dan was struggling, he often said that he didn’t feel like he could talk to his friends, and that no one could understand how he was feeling. Dan’s family and friends didn’t want other young adults to go through their struggles alone.

DMAX Foundation provides college students with trusting and inclusive spaces, where they can tell the stories of their lives, identities and experiences without judgment. Over the past 10 years, DMAX Foundation has supported young adults in their mental health through live and virtual programming, especially through our student-led mental health DMAX Clubs on college campuses. At DMAX Club meetings, students support each other in their struggles, as well as serve the broader campus by hosting events to spread mental health awareness, normalize mental health storytelling, and overcome stigmas and taboos around mental health.