Our Team
Anika is a highschool student at Odessa High School. Noticing the persistent stigma around mental health in her community, she founded the Foundation for Mental Health Education & Empowerment (FMHE) to educate students about mental health through individualized approaches. FMHE has distributed educational mental health resources in Spanish and English across the region and has partnered with 5 middle and high schools to start mental health support groups that serve as safe spaces for students to discuss their mental health and get personalized assistance from counselors. She serves on the Ector County Independent School District Bond Committee where she successfully advocated for an increase in funding towards mental health resources and proposed the initiation of mental health support groups across schools in the district. She has also distributed resources and given lessons about mental health at organizations such as the Crisis Center of West Texas and The Wonder Girls Camp. Recently, Anika has been working on a partnership with Communities in Schools to start more mental health support groups in schools across the region.
Anika Gundlapalli
Founder and President
Ajay is a middle schooler at Nimitz Middle School. Motivated by the tragic consequences of mental health disparities in his community he started the Foundation for Mental Health Education and Empowerment. He has co authored the Handbook for mental health in teens. He also advocated by writing articles in the local newspapers and campaigning in his community to support bills addressing Mental Health at State and Federal levels. He is the writer of the FMHE blog. He has organized support for various mental health legislations by writing to his state representatives, congressmen and senators. Currently, Ajay is working on an AI application that will allow users to get quick access to mental health resources when they need them.
Ajay Gundlapalli
Founder and Vice President
Dr. Gundlapalli is a Board Certified Anesthesiologist and Pain Management Specialist practicing in West Texas. He enjoys contributing to causes championing education for youth. He has raised and contributed resources for COVID relief.
Sai Gundlapalli (MD, MPH)
Secretary
