Young people are in the midst of a mental health crisis, health officials and recent studies have warned. But one Baltimore entrepreneur seeks to foster emotional wellbeing leveraging technology to guide students toward a more optimistic future.
Ashley Williams is the founder and CEO of Clymb, an interactive software tool for K-12 children. Williams hopes Clymb can be one of the many resources educators can use to better support their students.
Right now, the software is being used by city schools and local nonprofits.
This fall, Clymb is expected to roll out to 70 sites across the country.
“We have a generation of young people, particularly because of the pandemic, experiencing high rates of toxic stress, higher rates of depression, higher rates of anxiety,” Williams said.
Clymb was created in 2018, then known as Infinite Focus Schools. At the time, the idea was not quite refined, Williams said. Accelerators like the Johns Hopkins Social Innovation Lab offered her product more visibility. Today, Clymb’s funders include the American Heart Association and Ignite Capital.
Williams, who grew up in Anne Arundel County, said that her technology would have been helpful for her when she was one of the few Black students in an otherwise predominately white school.
