The Tower Foundation’s Community Experts Team Holds its First Ever In-Person Retreat


Author: Nissa Bisguier

The 2024 Community Experts Team (CET) just came to a close, after holding its first in-person retreat in Buffalo, NY. The Community Experts Team is a group of young people from geographic areas that Tower funds: Erie and Niagara Counties in Western New York, and Barnstable, Dukes, Essex, and Nantucket Counties in Eastern Massachusetts who … Continued

Transferring Decision Making Power to People with Lived Expertise


Author: Megan MacDavey

The Tower Foundation has been on a five year-long journey to bring people with lived expertise in the Foundation’s areas of interest into our work. This includes young people in and around their twenties with intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health challenges and substance use disorders.   Below is an image of the Public Engagement Spectrum, … Continued

To Increase Access to Mental Health Care, We Need More Flexible Funding


Author: By guest blogger Ian Lang, Chief Executive Officer, The Brookline Center for Community Mental Health. Tower Foundation Program Officer, Megan MacDavey, has added some reflections.

The ongoing mental health crisis is one of the most pressing challenges facing our society today. With over 50 percent of Americans seeking mental health care and 80 percent of students in the U.S. experiencing anxiety, the need for innovative, scalable solutions has never been more urgent. At The Brookline Center for Community Mental Health, … Continued

Reflections from our Participatory Grantmaking Project Manager


Author: Nissa Bisguier, Participatory Grantmaking Project Manager

The 2023 Community Experts Team just wrapped up its grant review, after coming together again with a mix of seasoned and brand-new members to determine the distribution of $215,000 to programs supporting youth. This year, the team was composed of 16 team members with lived experience, with origins from counties in Massachusetts and New York … Continued