The MHPSS Collaborative
The MHPSS Collaborative is a Copenhagen-based non-profit, hosted by Save the Children Denmark, that convenes researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to advance mental health and psychosocial support for children, youth, and families facing adversity through research, frameworks, and global partnerships.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersFrederiksberg C (Copenhagen), Denmark
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What The MHPSS Collaborative does
The MHPSS Collaborative is a non-profit research, advocacy, and convening organization founded in 2018 and legally hosted by Save the Children Denmark, operating from Copenhagen. Its mission is to improve mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for children, youth, and families facing adversity, with active projects or partnerships across Ukraine, Jordan, Kenya, Colombia, Greece, and Denmark. The organization works through four priority portfolios — adolescents and youth, climate and ecological crisis, childhood development and education, and emerging challenges — and convenes researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and youth advocates to co-produce evidence and influence practice.
Its core outputs are knowledge products, frameworks, and platforms rather than commercial software. The portfolio includes the RE:MH rapid participatory framework (Re:Source, Re:Flect, Re:Envision, Re:Act), the Youth Leadership Assessment Scale (YLAS), the Wednesday Webinars for Wellbeing series, free online courses hosted on the Humanitarian Leadership Academy's Kaya platform (in English, Arabic, and Ukrainian), the Lived Experience Collaboration Platform (in development with Wellcome/UKRI funding), and research projects such as REFUGE-ED, MHPSS in Action, Coaching for Life, Y!Participate, Learning Circles, and SCIREARLY. Core capabilities rest on applied mixed-methods research, participatory approaches, and staff with embedded academic appointments at Harvard Medical School, McGill University, and Johns Hopkins.
The organization is funded entirely through institutional grants and project partnerships. Core support comes from Save the Children Denmark and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, with project funding from the European Commission (Horizon 2020), LEGO Foundation, The Arsenal Foundation, Wellcome, UK Research and Innovation, UNICEF, and other humanitarian and development actors. Resources and courses are distributed free of charge; the organization has no commercial revenue model and reports no public financial figures.
The MHPSS Collaborative firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The MHPSS Collaborative
- Legal name
- The MHPSS Collaborative
- Website
- https://mhpsscollaborative.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The MHPSS Collaborative is a Copenhagen-based non-profit, hosted by Save the Children Denmark, that convenes researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to advance mental health and psychosocial support for children, youth, and families facing adversity through research, frameworks, and global partnerships.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The MHPSS Collaborative industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services
- NAICS
- Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- MHPSS & Trauma-Informed Support for Displaced Populations (BPADAHAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Global Health Research, Evidence & Technical Assistance Organizations (HLAJAKAN), Maternal, Newborn, Child & Adolescent Health (MNCAH) NGOs (HLAJAKAG), Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK)
Keywords
Where The MHPSS Collaborative is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Frederiksberg C (Copenhagen)
- HQ country
- Denmark
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
The MHPSS Collaborative business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Institutional Funding and Grants: The organization operates as a hosted entity of Save the Children Denmark and receives generous support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Additional project funding comes from institutional donors including European Commission Horizon 2020, LEGO Foundation, The Arsenal Foundation, Wellcome, UKRI, UNICEF, and other humanitarian and development organizations.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
The MHPSS Collaborative product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The MHPSS Collaborative is a non-profit organization that advances mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for children, youth, and families facing adversity through applied research, advocacy, learning, and convening. It produces research initiatives, training programs (such as ACPD), frameworks and toolkits (including the Theory of Change and the Global Compass), and peer-reviewed publications to support humanitarian practitioners, governments, and academic partners.
Product overview
The MHPSS Collaborative is a global centre for mental health and psychosocial support research, practice, learning and advocacy—not a single product company but an organization operating a portfolio of knowledge products, programs, and platforms. Its core offerings include research and evaluation initiatives (Coaching for Life, MHPSS in Action, REFUGE-ED, SCIREARLY), youth engagement platforms and frameworks (Y!Participate, Learning Circles, RE:MH), an online Lived Experience Collaboration Platform, e-learning courses, the Wednesday Webinars for Wellbeing series, and training resources such as Thriving through Play. These products are distributed through the organization's website, the Kaya digital learning platform (via Humanitarian Leadership Academy partnership), and direct project websites.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- MHPSS Collaborative Research Initiative A multi-country applied research program generating evidence on MHPSS for children, youth, and families facing adversity, conducted with in-country research partners in Ethiopia, Indonesia, and the Philippines and intended for humanitarian agencies, governments, and academic audiences.
- Adversity, Childhood, and Psychosocial Development (ACPD) Training Program A learning program equipping practitioners with foundational understanding of adversity, childhood, and psychosocial development to support MHPSS programming for children and families.
- Theory of Change (ToC) Framework and Toolkit A framework and toolkit that articulates how MHPSS programs are expected to contribute to change for children and families facing adversity, supporting program design, monitoring, and evaluation by humanitarian and development practitioners.
- Global Compass on MHPSS in Development and Humanitarian Settings An assessment resource mapping the MHPSS landscape in development and humanitarian settings, designed to orient practitioners, policymakers, and donors to standards, approaches, and entry points for MHPSS programming.
- "Why Children Matter" Research Series A research series articulating the case for centering children in MHPSS approaches, synthesizing evidence and arguments for humanitarian and development audiences.
Companies that use The MHPSS Collaborative
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
The MHPSS Collaborative technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
The MHPSS Collaborative partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA)coreFormalized partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focused on youth leadership and participation, shifting power to local actors, and expanding access to MHPSS learning. HLA hosts MHPSS online courses on their Kaya digital learning platform. The organizations share commitment to human-centred, locally led and collaborative approaches as initiatives hosted by Save the Children.
- UNICEF Adolescent Mental Health HubcoreJoint initiative creating Learning Circles for dialogue on urgent adolescent mental health issues. Brings together young people, practitioners, policymakers, researchers and advocates to examine contested issues and generate shared insight. Produces The Circular synthesis documents capturing key messages and pathways from discussions.
- Science PracticecoreCo-developing the Lived Experience Collaboration Platform, an online platform that makes meaningful collaboration between researchers and people with lived experience of mental health challenges easier and more effective. Project funded by Wellcome and UK Research and Innovation.
- The McPin FoundationcoreCo-developing the Lived Experience Collaboration Platform alongside Science Practice and MHPSS Collaborative. Working Group of people with lived experience, researchers and coordinators guide the platform development with input from Wellcome and UKRI.
- Save the Children UKcoreImplementation partner for Coaching for Life programme in Jordan, combining Save the Children's child resilience approach with Arsenal's sports-for-development model. Joint evaluation conducted with MHPSS Collaborative.
- Save the Children JordancoreOn-ground implementation partner for Coaching for Life programme in Za'atari refugee camp. Collaborated with Save the Children UK and MHPSS Collaborative on programme evaluation.
- Norwegian Refugee CouncilcorePartner for MHPSS in Action research project examining the Better Learning Programme in Colombia and Kenya. MHPSS Collaborative provides research analysis and evaluation support.
- Amal AlliancecoreImplementation partner for Colours of Kindness initiative in Greece as part of MHPSS in Action research project. MHPSS Collaborative conducts research and evaluation of the programme.
- CPC Learning NetworkcoreStrategic partner for RE:MH initiative, a rapid participatory framework for bridging NCDs and mental health. Collaboration to move from fragmented problem-framing to co-created solutions and actionable implementation.
- Save the Children DenmarkcoreHost organization for the MHPSS Collaborative since 2018. The Collaborative is legally part of Save the Children Denmark while maintaining its own separate vision, mission, strategy and organizational identity. Provides institutional support and generous funding.
- Autonomous University BarcelonacoreProject lead for REFUGE-ED consortium which includes academic institutions, research centres, and NGOs from seven European countries working on education and MHPSS integration.
- Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) MHPSS Reference GroupcoreCo-chair of the Child and Family Thematic Group under IASC MHPSS Reference Group, co-chaired with UNICEF. Plans and presents the Wednesday Webinars for Wellbeing series.
- World Health OrganizationcoreStrategic partner providing technical expertise and guidance. WHO staff involved in collaborative research and publications including evaluation of play-based MHPSS interventions in Ukraine.
- McGill UniversityminorJura Augustinavicius serves as Assistant Professor at McGill University's School of Population and Global Health, supporting the climate change and MHPSS portfolio.
- Harvard Medical School / Boston Children's HospitalminorSuzan Song serves as Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Global Child and Family Mental Health at Harvard's Boston Children's Hospital, leading the Emerging MHPSS Challenges portfolio.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The MHPSS Collaborative competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- War Child Alliance: International NGO dedicated to protecting children affected by war through MHPSS, education, and child protection programming. Highly comparable mission to the MHPSS Collaborative — focused on child and family psychosocial wellbeing in conflict zones — but operates as a direct implementer at significantly larger scale.
- Mental Health Innovation Network: Global community of practice connecting researchers, policymakers, and implementers to scale mental health innovations in low-resource and humanitarian settings. Mirrors the Collaborative's research-to-practice convening model.
- The MENTOR Initiative: Specialises in mental health and psychosocial support in emergency settings, working with conflict-affected and disaster-affected populations. Comparable niche specialization in MHPSS delivery and research within humanitarian contexts.
- Movement Foundation: Youth-led foundation focused on mental health and psychosocial support for young people in crisis-affected settings, including young refugees. Overlaps directly with the Collaborative's adolescent, youth advocacy, and youth-led participation mandate.
Broad incumbents
- World Vision International: Global humanitarian and development NGO with substantial child-focused MHPSS work in fragile settings. Comparable thematic focus on child wellbeing and mental health integration, but with a much broader portfolio beyond MHPSS.
- International Rescue Committee: Large humanitarian NGO delivering MHPSS in refugee and conflict-affected contexts. Comparable target population and programming approach; substantially larger operational footprint.
- World Health Organization: Sets global normative guidance on mental health, including in humanitarian settings, and partners with the Collaborative on Ukraine research. Overlaps on MHPSS technical authority but at a vastly broader mandate.
- UNICEF: UN agency running the Adolescent Mental Health Hub and broader MHPSS programming. Partner of the MHPSS Collaborative, but a much larger institutional actor with global convening authority in child welfare.
- International Medical Corps: Large humanitarian organization running integrated MHPSS programming across multiple countries and crises. Comparable end beneficiary (children and families in crisis) and similar programmatic language, but operates direct service delivery at far greater scale and budget.
Emerging players
- Centre for Global Mental Health (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine / King's College London): Academic research centre producing evidence and training in global mental health, including humanitarian settings. Comparable research-and-evidence focus and affiliations with senior MHPSS Collaborative team members (King's College London alumni).
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The MHPSS Collaborative social profiles
Digital presenceThe MHPSS Collaborative financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The MHPSS Collaborative leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
The MHPSS Collaborative funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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The MHPSS Collaborative M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about The MHPSS Collaborative
What does The MHPSS Collaborative do?
The MHPSS Collaborative is a non-profit organization that advances mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for children, youth, and families facing adversity through applied research, advocacy, learning, and convening. It produces research initiatives, training programs (such as ACPD), frameworks and toolkits (including the Theory of Change and the Global Compass), and peer-reviewed publications to support humanitarian practitioners, governments, and academic partners.
Is The MHPSS Collaborative a public or private company?
The MHPSS Collaborative is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was The MHPSS Collaborative founded?
The MHPSS Collaborative was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The MHPSS Collaborative based?
The MHPSS Collaborative is headquartered in Frederiksberg C (Copenhagen), Denmark, in the Europe region.
How does The MHPSS Collaborative make money?
One revenue line is on record: institutional Funding and Grants.
Who are The MHPSS Collaborative's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are War Child Alliance, Mental Health Innovation Network, The MENTOR Initiative and Movement Foundation. Broad incumbents are World Vision International, International Rescue Committee, World Health Organization, UNICEF and International Medical Corps. Centre for Global Mental Health (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine / King's College London) is listed as an emerging player.
Does The MHPSS Collaborative have an API?
No public API is recorded for The MHPSS Collaborative.
What industry is The MHPSS Collaborative in?
The MHPSS Collaborative's product category is Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPADAHAJ, MHPSS & Trauma-Informed Support for Displaced Populations, with a secondary code of HLAJAKAN, Global Health Research, Evidence & Technical Assistance Organizations. Its NAICS code is 54172 and its SIC code is 8300.