Supporting and Protecting
Young, Brilliant, and Complex Minds
Who We Are
The Jake Collective is a multi-pronged initiative that supports the health and wellbeing of a population of young people whose complex intelligence, while powering intellectual, artistic, and other talents, can also generate great risk.
How We Work
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We fund research via grantmaking through the Jake Foundation.
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As impact investors, we address underinvestment in mental health startups.
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We support legislative efforts to create policy change to serve and protect these young people and their families.
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The young people we aim to help tend broadly to think, learn, and process differently from their peers. Frequently they demonstrate precocious skills inside and outside of school while also experiencing a latency in certain critical developmental functions, particularly related to communication, emotion, and self-regulation. These gaps, widening through adolescence, can leave young people isolated with certain traits that undermine their mental health. Some examples include rigid thought patterns, rejection sensitivity, and negative urgency.
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Young people often experience these traits without the full complement of symptoms that lead to a developmental disorder diagnosis. If and when there is a diagnosis, most often these individuals are identified as living with ADHD. The set of traits we are most concerned with collectively create a significant risk of depression, anxiety, and even self-harm for the young person. Very rarely is this risk identified, and never has it been effectively quantified.
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Even when well-resourced, young people with this complex intelligence can struggle to develop resilience and self-compassion through adolescence and early adulthood. Few of the counseling and clinical tools we possess are designed for this population, and, depending on geography, a large cohort of young people might not be able to access qualified mental health treatment at all.
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The variability and sophistication of youth suicide prevention work in clinical, educational, cultural, and public health settings in the United States is remarkable. We are proud to work corollary to such efforts by focusing on this subset of the youth population whose risk factors are disproportionately high. Research into the developmental pathways of these young people is rapidly evolving but, given the risk to these children, hugely underfunded.
Why It Matters
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Nearly 30% of people under 29 identify as neurodivergent
Source: YouGov
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Early understanding saves lives
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3,700 suicide attempts made by middle and high school students every day
Source: Cambridge University Press
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People with ADHD have 8.5× higher odds of attempted suicide and 12.2× higher odds of completed suicide versus controls
Source: BMC Psychiatry
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<2% of philanthropy goes to mental health
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18.4% of youth with ADHD had made at least one suicide attempt by age 18, compared with 5.7% of comparison youth
Source: JAMA Psychiatry
Honoring
Jake Schreiber
In all of our efforts, we honor the life, heart, and brilliance of Jake Schreiber.