Filled with high school students, giveaways and celebrities, the Ackerman Grand Ballroom transformed into a vibrant wellness hub Sunday morning.

The 2025 Gen Z Wellness Summit – hosted by the UCLA Friends of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior’s Teen Advisory Council along with Unlikely Collaborators, a conflict resolution organization – featured guest speakers, live music and mental health-related activities. The annual gathering, first hosted last year, hopes to spread awareness about mental health treatment and foster community health, said Wendy Kelman, executive director of the Friends of the Semel Institute.

High school students, college students, parents and teachers sat at dozens of round tables as they waited for the programming to begin. Participants were also invited to grab souvenirs, including pens and fragrance mists supplied by Rare Beauty, UCLA Health, Jubilee and Unlikely Collaborators.

The summit was inspired by an idea from a member of the Teen Advisory Council, said Vicky Goodman, founder and president of the Friends of the Semel Institute. The unique challenges faced by Generation Z – from COVID-19 quarantines to navigating social media – necessitated the in-person wellness event, she added.

Elizabeth Koch, the founder of Unlikely Collaborators, kicked off the summit with an activity called the “Perception Box Adventure,” in which attendees filled personal capsules with random items – such as ceramic charms, miniature furniture and notebooks – placed on eight tables stationed around the room. As live piano music played, students raced to find objects carrying emotional significance to them.

The activity aimed to get students inside their “perception box,” or the set of cognitions and emotions making up one’s experience of their life, Koch said.

“Your brain is so plastic when you’re a teenager,” she said. “It’s still plastic throughout your life, but … the older you get, the harder it is to change your stories.”

Back at their tables, participants shared anecdotes about the items they collected. This helped break the ice, said Isabella Soghaier, an event attendee and senior at Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto High School.

“Now that we’re talking to each other and getting to know each others’ stories, I’m letting go and giving my input and trying to create relationships,” Soghaier said.

Harris III – a speaker, illusionist and author – presented magic tricks to demonstrate the effects of audience members’ beliefs on their self-perceptions. He closed his segment by escaping a straitjacket, a homage to his training as a magician – and something he said was a metaphor for overcoming hardship.

Harris said that in addition to thinking about how they perceive the world, he wanted audience members to tap into a childlike sense of wonder while watching his performance. He added that he hopes people will leave the event more curious about the stories they present about themselves.

After lunch, singer and songwriter Em Beihold said in her speech that music allows her to tap into difficult emotions. She then performed her 2022 hit “Numb Little Bug,” which was inspired by her journey with mental health.

Later in the main session, Jason Lee, the founder of Jubilee Media, spoke about the power of young people to change the world. He then conducted a roomwide game of Spectrum – a game popularized by Jubilee’s YouTube channel, which boasts nearly 10 million subscribers.

Students talked through prompts presented by Lee such as, “Social media is a net positive for my generation,” and, “With love – the more options, the better,” with other attendees at their tables.

Abigail Ha, a high school sophomore at New West Charter School who attended the event, said the practices helped her feel connected to the community and empowered to share her story with others. She added that she also learned how to appreciate her peers’ perspectives.

“If you don’t have the same perspective as someone, you can at least understand where they’re coming from,” Ha said.

The summit reflects the Semel Institute’s goal of bringing mental health services directly to communities, said Dr. Helena Hansen, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and interim director of the Semel Institute. Members of Gen Z may recognize ongoing mental health crises but might not know what to do about them, she added.

“We are very focused on how we can get insights and services to communities as opposed to waiting for people to show up for mental health care at clinics and hospitals,” Hansen said.

The event’s final segment involved breakout sessions featuring wellness-centered topics ranging from “The Science of Making Friends” – in which participants learned about building meaningful friendships – to “Food and Mood,” which detailed the impact of diet on the gut microbiome.

Guest speaker JR Kuo, a mental health advocate and speaker, also led students in an origami-inspired craft session aimed to allow students to focus on joy, hope and resilience in their interactions with mental health.

“There’s no limit for us – for me and you or anyone here – to experience, to have that happiness and joy and hope,” Kuo said.