Ashleigh Cieri

She have seen first-hand the magic of the initial match between a Compeer friend and youth. She is fortunate to have had a few mentors in her own life who have all added something unique to her experiences.

For the past 10 years, she have worked with many youth and families experiencing mental health challenges, including homeless, at-risk and LGBT youth, as well as youth in foster care. She believe that the sole common thread among what predicted these youth’s success was the presence of one unconditionally supportive and compassionate adult in their lives. She is currently working toward her Master’s in Social Work at UB and look forward to bringing new skills and a trauma-informed approach to Compeer.

She also bring experience in advocacy. She believe that while many people receive medical first aid training, they are far less familiar with what to do when someone experiences a mental health crisis, and she look forward to working with the Compeer team to continue to advocate for greater awareness and decrease the stigma toward mental health!

She am excited to join the Compeer team in their mission of helping make this powerful connection of friendship for more youth in the community, and to become a model for other communities who wish to expand their mentoring services.