Culture 4 min read By Morgan Griffin
Next Generation Collective Launches to Support Young Hollywood Talent's Mental Health
A new initiative launched at Hollywood & Mind's inaugural summit aims to help young people in entertainment, music, and the creator economy navigate growing up in the public eye, with clinical expertise and industry backing.
A new organization dedicated to supporting the mental health of young people working in entertainment launched this week at Hollywood & Mind's inaugural summit in New York City. The Next Generation Collective (NGC) brings together clinical mental health expertise, entertainment industry leadership, and lived experience to provide guidance for young talent navigating careers that begin, in many cases, before adulthood.
NGC was founded by Lilah Kojoori, a veteran Hollywood public relations executive, and has partnered with The Kids Mental Health Foundation on an initiative designed for young people, their families, and the professionals who work with them. The program extends beyond traditional film and television to include music and the creator economy, reflecting the expanding range of paths by which young people now enter the public eye.
The initiative arrives at a moment when the pressures facing young performers, musicians, and online creators have drawn increasing attention across the industry. Child and adolescent stars often contend with intense public scrutiny, demanding production schedules, social media exposure, and the challenge of building a personal identity while a global audience watches. The collective's founders argue that mental health support should be built into the infrastructure of entertainment careers from the start rather than treated as an afterthought.
By combining clinical knowledge with the perspectives of industry leaders and people who have lived through early fame themselves, NGC aims to offer practical guidance rather than abstract advocacy. The organization's model places mental health professionals alongside entertainment decision-makers, a structure intended to help families and young talent make informed choices about their careers and well-being.
The launch took place at the inaugural Hollywood & Mind summit, an event hosted at iHeartMedia's New York City offices. The summit gathered figures from across the entertainment and mental health communities to discuss how the industry can better protect the young people it employs and promotes. The setting underscored the growing willingness of entertainment institutions to address psychological well-being as a core professional concern.
The Kids Mental Health Foundation partnership gives NGC access to established clinical resources and expertise in child and adolescent mental health. That collaboration is central to the collective's stated purpose: ensuring that guidance offered to young talent and their families is grounded in evidence and delivered by qualified professionals, not merely by well-intentioned industry veterans.
For families of young performers, the collective's formation signals a new resource at a time when the entertainment landscape offers more opportunities — and more exposure — than ever before. The creator economy in particular has blurred the lines between performer and entrepreneur, leaving many young people to manage their own careers, finances, and public profiles with little institutional support.
NGC's founders have not yet detailed the specific programs or services the collective will offer, but its launch establishes mental health as an organizing principle for how the industry approaches its youngest workers. As the summit's attendees return to their studios, agencies, and platforms, the collective's early message is clear: the well-being of young talent is not a peripheral concern but a foundational one.
11
