MCert · The Standard for Clarity • WE HEARD YOU • TENSIONS • THE DAY • VOICES • WHAT'S NEXT MCERT 2026 CONVENING · ATTENDEE UPDATE · APRIL 2026 You showed up.
Here's what we built together. We've validated the foundation. Now it's time to build the movement. 30+ EXPERTS IN THE ROOM 6 SESSIONS 18 TENSIONS NAMED 1 NORTH STAR WE HEARD YOU The room aligned on five big things. Here are the through-lines that ran across every table, every session, every post-it. MCert as a "Colander" Participants aligned on MCert's role as a neutral filter designed to sift through a chaotic marketplace of thousands of apps and surface those that are safe, effective, and genuinely engaging for youth. Infrastructure for Trust, Not Just a Stamp MCert's value lies not just in creating another standard, but in acting as an organizer of existing demand. It aims to be the infrastructure layer that helps fragmented stakeholders — schools, payers, policymakers — align on what "quality" means. Clarity and Sequencing Matter Most Right Now MCert must prioritize a clear initial audience. Focus and sequencing matter more than completeness. Define who MCert is for first — then build from there. Equity and Youth Voice at the Core Lived experience — specifically for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled youth — must be baked into the roots of the standards, not treated as a later addition. Defining and Proving "Quality" Across Stakeholders MCert must define and prove "quality" by balancing safety, outcomes, and engagement — grounded in measurable results aligned with how youth actually perceive value. Sustainable Partnerships Are the Path to Scale While schools are a vital site of service, payers and state governments are the essential sustainable partners — with the financial and enforcement power to scale adoption long-term. TENSIONS IN THE ROOM Nobody said this was simple. The morning surfaced the real trade-offs this field hasn't resolved yet. These aren't problems to be solved — they're tensions to be held as MCert moves forward. REACH Scale & Broad Impact VS REACH One Family at a Time MONEY Prevention & Subclinical VS MONEY Funding & Reimbursement LITERACY Youth Tech Literacy VS LITERACY Adult & Caregiver Literacy TECHNOLOGY AI as a Powerful Tool VS TECHNOLOGY AI is Not a Human REGULATION Fast-Moving Technology VS REGULATION Slow Research & Regulation ACCESS Designed Mental Health Apps VS ACCESS Where Youth Actually Are SAFETY Youth Independence Online VS SAFETY Caregiver Involvement IDENTITY Hyper-Personalized Experience VS IDENTITY Shared Reality & Connection GOVERNANCE Voluntary Certification VS GOVERNANCE Enforced Standards & Policy SUSTAINABILITY Doing the Right Thing VS SUSTAINABILITY Getting Paid for It THE DAY How the story unfolded. Six sessions. One arc — from surfacing tensions to shared vision to standards to what comes next. 1 MORNING · CONNECTION ACTIVITY Surfacing the Tensions The room named 18 tensions at the intersection of technology, mental health, and youth well-being — from funding realities to AI literacy gaps to regulatory lag. The honest acknowledgment that none of these are easy set the tone for everything that followed. AI & TECH FUNDING REGULATION 2 MORNING · PROBLEM PULSE CHECK Aligning on the Problem The group grounded MCert's work in who these tools are for and what barriers exist. Key: centering marginalized voices, accounting for peer-first help-seeking, the scarcity of free accessible tools, and the ethical stakes of AI built on marginalized labor. YOUTH VOICE ACCESSIBILITY EQUITY 3 MORNING · SHARED VISION ACTIVITY Dreaming the Possible Participants centered a young person in the room and imagined a world where the weight of the mental health crisis has been lifted. The vision: empowered youth with two kinds of literacy, real agency, and safe spaces — online and off — to play and thrive. Youth as solution, not problem. VISION EMPOWERMENT JOY 4 LATE MORNING · QUALITY STANDARDS Testing the Framework The five-step risk-based evaluation framework was stress-tested. The room pushed on equity gaps, AI checkboxes becoming outdated, the breadth of ages 11–26, measuring unintended outcomes, youth trust in certification seals, and the need for future-proof, tech-agnostic standards. STANDARDS RISK EVIDENCE 5 AFTERNOON · MINI-SWOT What Would Make This Work Four groups identified enabling incentives, feasibility risks, and the one unlock that would move the whole system. The convergence: a simple, trusted, widely recognized signal — like a restaurant grade or Common Sense Media rating — that anyone can act on. ADOPTION BUSINESS MODEL SIGNAL 6 AFTERNOON · PRIORITIES & NEXT STEPS From Alignment to Action The final session moved from vision to roadmap. Schools as sites of service, payers and states as sustainable partners, the colander metaphor for MCert's filtering role, and a sharp focus on starting risk-first with one tool, one place, one founder — then expanding from proof. STRATEGY NEXT STEPS FUNDING VOICES IN THE ROOM The words that stayed with us. Some of the most powerful moments came from the floor — unrehearsed, honest, and exactly right. " "If I could go back in time, I wouldn't tell my younger self anything. I would listen — because nobody listened to me." ON YOUTH VOICE — SHARED VISION SESSION " "Subclinical is not going to be fundable. And what's wrong with impacting subclinical populations? It keeps them from being clinical, duh." ON PREVENTION FUNDING — TENSIONS SESSION " "MCert is a colander — it strains away what does not work, so stakeholders can understand quality and safety in a neutral way." ON MCERT'S ROLE — PRIORITIES SESSION " "The technology is so far outpacing both the research and the regulatory frameworks. Regulation often spurs the best safety changes." ON REGULATION — TENSIONS SESSION " "It's not just for the kids, parents, and teachers — hello, legislators. Sometimes they make decisions absent of subject matter experts, absent of young people, absent of lived experience." ON POLICY LITERACY — TENSIONS SESSION " "We're not creating demand — we're organizing existing demand. That's a good starting place." ON MCERT'S OPPORTUNITY — MINI-SWOT SESSION WHAT'S NEXT Four things we're working on now. You shaped these. Here's how MCert is moving forward — and where your continued involvement matters most. 01 Define North Star Define a plain-language statement of what the MCert seal means — a simple explanation of the problem MCert solves, what our role is, and who we serve (both short and long term). 02 Business Model Mapping Study existing standards and business models and survey different stakeholders on what they'd pay for and where they see value. 03 Pick a Starting Point We cannot serve everyone at once, and we want to know the quickest way we can make impact in the short-term while looking at our long-term goals. 04 Build Partnerships + Knowledge Base Identify the education, data, and shared understanding that key stakeholders need right now and find the funding and partnership structures that can deliver it. This is just the beginning. MCert needs collaborators, not just supporters. If you're thinking about someone who should be at the next table — tell us. STAY INVOLVED