Status of Women committee  One thing we're working on at Future Black Female is a national mental health campaign for Black girls. We are going to roll out a national survey, because there is no information on the mental health experiences of Black girls. We can only surmise from other sources of data. We're rolling that out and we're looking for funding for mental health promotion specifically for Black girls and women.

Status of Women committee  I think the lens of women and girls is important because, more and more, as a society, we are putting more demands and expectations. We've been talking about social media. If you look at the representations of girls and women there, they're impossible. Their mental health is suffering, because society is changing.

Status of Women committee  I wasn't aware of it, but I've written his name down. I'm thinking I'll find him on LinkedIn. It's the most brilliant thing I've heard. I've worked a lot with children and youth in mental health, and parents are often distressed because they don't know what's going on until it's too late.

Status of Women committee  I think one of the main things, as I said before, is the system navigation. I think we need more representation across the health care system. I know that a lot of universities are now implementing recruitment strategies that attract and retain more physician trainees from marginalized communities, but we need to see this across the board, not just with physicians but with other health care providers.

Status of Women committee  Yes, absolutely.

Status of Women committee  Absolutely, yes.

Status of Women committee  Thank you. I agree with Dr. Williams that, as I suppose we would be called a grassroots organization, funding is very difficult to obtain. A lot of funding requires us to have our charitable status, for example, which can take a while. I've worked in community mental health specifically for quite a long time, and I know that in marginalized and racialized communities, for people to see a psychiatrist it has to be an advanced crisis, I will say.

Status of Women committee  Thank you, and thank you for this invite. Diversity in Canada's youth has increased from 13% in 1996 to 27% in 2016, with about 49,476 Black girls and young women aged 15 to 19. Available statistics do not highlight the unique challenges experienced by Black girls and women, but it is reasonable to conclude that this demographic will have a disproportionately larger number experiencing socio-economic and health challenges, especially due to COVID-19.