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Samantha Nimmo is a student-athlete at Whittier College, majoring in Psychology. Along with her parents, Samantha is the Co-Founder of Z-Cares Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging meaningful conversations about youth mental health. Z-Cares was created after the loss of her brother Zachary to help end the stigma around mental health and encourage youth, parents, and teachers to talk about anxiety and depression.Samantha also acts as Youth Board president for the Foundation, leading the Board’s decision making and live panel talks, and speaking regularly at events and in the media to start normalizing talking openly about mental health in our communities. Samantha also created a podcast, Sit Down With Sam, a forum for sharing honest stories about mental health. Due to the loss of her brother, she is passionate about advocating for mental health and feels no one should suffer in silence. Samantha is also a certified Youth Mental Health First Aider. Inspired by Zachary, she is dedicated to sharing empowering messages about the importance of mental health to our overall wellbeing.