James Gogolak

I'm from Los Angeles, and this started for me before Teen Line ever did. I've watched people close to me, family and friends, struggle with their mental health, and I remember how hard it was to know what to say; that's the reason any of this exists.

Learning to sit with someone in crisis and respond well takes practice, and at Teen Line most of that comes through roleplay.

Those roleplays happen in person, back to back with another trainee, texting or talking it out while sitting right next to them. That works, though it's hard to sink into the role when the person across from you is a friend you're completely comfortable with; it turns into joking around more than practice. I wanted something you can't shortcut just because you know the person playing it.

That's what SupportPrep is for.

SupportPrep is a two person operation. Founder and CEO are the titles on paper; in practice it means I wrote the code and built every scenario and persona in it. Maica Monti, our UI Designer, does everything visual: the colors, the logo, the animations.

I'm also interested in hospitality, and in service more generally. It's the same instinct as crisis support: making someone's experience a little better, even in a small way.

I'm a student at Loyola High School, class of 2027. On campus, I'm a member of the Student Wellness Council, a peer on peer counseling group that Loyola students can reach out to when they need someone to talk to. I'm also a listener at Teen Line, a peer support line for teens outside of school.

Alongside that, I helped run a set of surveys on youth mental health across California through AIM Ideas Lab. Outside of mental health work, I play soccer and golf, and I'm a member of Loyola's Student Investment Fund, a twenty person team that manages and invests $1.4 million.