Alanna Sethi: Defying Odds, Creating HOPE

At the young age of nine, Alanna Sethi was already contributing to change, selling candy on her school bus in Singapore to fundraise for environmental causes. Unlike other children her age, she wasn't fixated on the sweets, but on the planet. "I went to a school that had a strong focus on caring for the world around you and taking part in charity work," she notes, recalling the earnestness of that initial spark. The school's service programs opened Alanna's eyes to global challenges, revealing a quiet disparity: while peers flocked to initiatives for poverty or education, the environment languished with less attention. "I wasn't trying to take the untraditional path," she reflected, "but I felt all global issues were important and wanted to assist with this one since they had less support." With a fevered tenacity far beyond her years, she dove into advocacy for animal welfare and sustainability.

What began as small, local fundraisers laid the groundwork for a journey that would evolve into something far greater: HOPE (Helping Our Planet Earth), a youth-led mental health initiative now reaching across borders. Today, as a University of Toronto student and recipient of accolades like the Diana Award and JESSICA's Most Successful Woman award, Alanna's story is one of resilience, reinvention, and an unwavering belief in young people's potential, forged through personal tribulations and a refusal to take "no" as an answer.

From Candy to Change: A Young Advocate's Roots

Alanna's first foray into advocacy was anything but glamorous—it was gritty, hands-on, and fuelled by a child's curiosity about her role in the world. "I basically just sold candy on the school bus," she says, laughing fondly at the memory. By 11, she was itching to start something of her own, but her school rebuffed her. "They told me no—they said, 'Go join an existing initiative.'" Undeterred, she joined councils—Environmental Stewardship, Student Council, Green Council—to learn the ropes of organizing and engaging with faculty. "It was a really interesting experience to learn more about how to engage with school staff and faculty members, because that's where you can leverage the school support to actually make a difference," she reflects.

This sense of determination followed her to boarding school in the UK at age 13, where she again asked to start her own initiative. This time, the answer was a yes that offered the opportunity of independence. It was a crash course in entrepreneurship—a phase of "trial and error" that taught her what it means to lead without a guide. It was here, amid the culture shock of a British boarding school, that her path took a sharp turn. Picked on for her environmental work, her mental health faltered. "I did unfortunately get pretty bullied for the work that I was doing," she admits, "After a couple of years, when my mental health was taking a hit, I switched into the mental health field."

A Painful Pivot: Discovering Mental Health

Alanna's entry into mental health advocacy wasn't planned, but borne from lived experience. At 11, still in Singapore's sheltered international school bubble, she first heard the term "mental health" in relation to celebrities like Selena Gomez. "I didn't really understand what it meant," she confesses.

That bubble burst in the UK. By her teens, she was dealing with struggles that forced her into the mental health system. "I had depression…I was experiencing it pretty significantly," she shares candidly, an ordeal that sparked tough talks with loved ones. "It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I had those really tough conversations."

Through clinicians, Google searches, and Healthline, she pieced together an understanding of mental health—a knowledge that, by age 16, set her apart. "I realized that at that point in time, I knew more about mental health than the average young person," she says. Volunteering with England's National Health Service as an Expert by Experience (EBE), she advised on youth services and was present in clinician interviews.

It was a revelation: Alanna had skills to offer and a perspective to share. HOPE sprouted in Singapore as an informal student newsletter for environmental causes, evolving as she carried it to the UK—focusing on environmental advocacy until 2019, when it shifted to mental health fundraising and awareness. By 2020, less than a year after relocating to Hong Kong, she expanded its reach—sharing self-help resources online, then building workshops and school partnerships, and now exploring digital mental health initiatives still in development.

Hong Kong: A Wake-Up Call

Starting at a new school during lockdown—classes postponed, peers unmet—Alanna assumed mental health resources mirrored the UK's. She was wrong. "I thought, if there's a mental health charity in Hong Kong, that must mean they have the same resources and support and services that are available in the UK," she says. "I was very wrong." A classroom discussion crystallized this gap. When a peer jokingly blamed IB stress for depression, it sparked a heated discussion. Alanna listed local charities, only to be met with a classmate's outburst. "I remember one of the students standing up all of a sudden and yelling at me in front of the entire class," she recounts. Following the encounter, she left the room, later learning the student had been grappling with suicidal thoughts, once standing on a window ledge.

The moment hit hard. "I had been saying that these resources exist, but do they actually?" she questioned. A quick Google search revealed a stark truth: in 2020, Hong Kong's mental health infrastructure leaned heavily on awareness, not action. "The majority of the mental health resources in Hong Kong were focused on mental health awareness, which is not a bad thing at all," she says. "But if you're aware that you're struggling and you need help, what do you do if you then can't access anything?" With youth suicides rising, she saw a void HOPE could fill—not as a clinical service, but as a practical, youth-led support. "I thought—when I was really struggling, when I was in their shoes—what is the place that I would have wanted?" she says. "I've been doing my best to try to create that."

At the Heart of HOPE: Youth Empowerment

HOPE isn't just about resources—it's about people. Alanna's vision hinges on empowering youth to lead, reflecting her own journey of overcoming dismissal. "When I first started my work at HOPE, I was actually very discouraged by a lot of people around me," she admits, recalling early skepticism from those around her. That tide has turned—loved ones now cheer her impact—but the early resistance fuelled her resolve.

Recruitment reflects her core ethos. Initially posting to Hong Kong Facebook groups, she has since shifted to organic growth. "What I found most impactful is just letting people naturally find you," she says. HOPE seeks passion over polish—a so-called "vibe check" for those driven by mental health's mission. Take her teammate, a shy psycholinguistics student who joined last year. "She was always interested in seeing how she could contribute to the mental health field, but never really sure how," Alanna says. Within 3 months, they co-organized HOPE's first mental health art exhibit. "She helped me organize so much of it," she marvels, from logistics to artist liaison. The result was a newfound confidence. "You can really see that change in the tone and the confidence that she has," Alanna notes.

Her leadership style blends quiet compassion with fierce belief. "I'm a pretty quiet, more introverted kind of person," she says, "but I think I can also be the kind of person who's deeply empathetic; someone who's a listening ear." Inspired by peers like Stephanie Ng of Body Banter, whose energy she describes as "just so beautiful," she fosters a flat, inclusive structure at HOPE. "Everyone feels like we're all on the same page," she says. "Everyone's voice is valued."

The Human Struggle: Balance and Belief

Alanna's candor about her limits sets her apart. When asked about how she balances her many roles—student, founder, yoga instructor—she doesn't sugarcoat it. "The realistic answer is not well," she says. "I don't manage it very well; I would 100% consider myself a workaholic." With a global team spanning multiple time zones, messages ping at all hours. "I just want to get to it right away," she admits. This year, she's setting boundaries: "I'm not going to respond to it this weekend, because I'm taking some time for myself." Nature walks on campus, singing bowl sessions, and time with loved ones steady her amid the storm.

A pivotal memory drives her forward. Faced with uncertainty at 16, she hosted an online sound relaxation session; no frills, just her and her singing bowls on Zoom. Staying behind after the session ended, a participant shared how a flood had devastated her home. "She told me that for those 30 minutes, she finally felt like she could just take a breath," Alanna says. "I think about that a lot." It's not about scale, she realized, but impact. "If you can make a difference to just one person, that is already something so meaningful."

A Vision Beyond Borders

HOPE's future is global. "I want to do work that isn't barred by geography," Alanna explains, dreaming of exploring expansions to Singapore, Dubai, or the UK. Her third-culture identity—shaped by Singapore, the UK, Canada, and Hong Kong—informs this ambition. This May, she's headed to Japan to co-design a mindfulness program blending local traditions, a testament to her belief in culturally relevant solutions. "There are times where [Western-based] solutions just don't mesh," she says, advocating for practices that resonate locally.

Her legacy is twofold: "Say no to the nos," she declares, urging youth to defy gatekeepers as she did; and second, to instill inherent worth. "I hope that young people can realize and feel the potential, the wisdom and experience and value that they already bring to the table," she says. "They already deserve to be heard." As she nears graduation, uncertain but excited, Alanna Sethi shines as a guiding light—her voice, once a whisper selling a box of candy on a school bus, now echoes as a movement of hope across continents.