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Hello {{ first name | friends}},
Welcome to our first interview of 2026. I was delighted to come across Ashley McGirt-Adair’s work on LinkedIn late last year. Accessible therapy that doesn’t depend on income is a laudable goal and achievement and I’m please to feature her work.
Ashley, tell me briefly about your background prior to founding Therapy Fund Foundation
Prior to founding Therapy Fund Foundation, I built my career as a licensed mental health therapist working directly with individuals and families navigating trauma, depression, and systemic barriers to care. My professional background spans community mental health, clinical practice, and advocacy, where I witnessed firsthand how cost, insurance limitations, and lack of culturally responsive providers routinely prevent people, especially Black and historically marginalized communities from accessing therapy. Alongside my clinical work, I have led workshops, trainings, and public conversations focused on mental health equity, trauma-informed care, and dismantling stigma. These experiences, combined with my lived understanding of the gaps within our mental health system, ultimately led me to create an organization designed to remove financial and structural barriers to healing.
Give me the elevator pitch for Therapy Fund Foundation
Therapy Fund Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating financial and systemic barriers to mental health care for Black and historically excluded communities. We provide free and subsidized therapy with culturally responsive clinicians, along with community-based mental health education and healing spaces. Our work ensures that healing is not a privilege, but a right rooted in access, representation, and dignity.
And in more detail?
Therapy Fund Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to advancing mental health equity by removing the financial, structural, and cultural barriers that prevent Black and historically excluded communities from accessing care. We operate on the belief that healing should not be dependent on income, insurance status, or proximity to culturally responsive providers.
Our core work includes providing free and subsidized therapy sessions with licensed clinicians who are trained in culturally responsive and trauma-informed care. We intentionally partner with therapists of color and clinicians who understand the lived experiences of the communities we serve, helping to rebuild trust in a mental health system that has historically caused harm.
In addition to direct services, Therapy Fund Foundation offers community-based mental health education, workshops, and healing-centered programming that destigmatize therapy and equip individuals, families, and organizations with practical tools for emotional well-being. We also invest in prevention and early intervention through youth-focused initiatives, peer support, and partnerships with schools and community organizations.
Together, our programs create a comprehensive ecosystem of care that addresses both individual healing and the broader systemic conditions that shape mental health outcomes. By centering access, representation, and dignity, Therapy Fund Foundation works toward a future where mental health care is equitable, affirming, and accessible to all.
What inequity were you trying to address, and why is this important?
Therapy Fund Foundation was created to address the persistent inequities in access to mental health care faced by Black and historically excluded communities. These inequities show up through high out-of-pocket costs, limited insurance acceptance, long waitlists, and a severe shortage of culturally responsive providers. As a result, many individuals who need care most are either unable to access therapy at all or are placed in systems that misunderstand, misdiagnose, or minimize their lived experiences.
This inequity is important because mental health outcomes are deeply shaped by structural conditions such as racism, economic inequality, and chronic stress. When communities are systematically denied access to appropriate care, the impact extends beyond individual suffering to families, schools, workplaces, and entire generations. Untreated mental health needs contribute to cycles of trauma, burnout, and preventable crises.
By removing financial barriers and centering culturally responsive care, Therapy Fund Foundation works to disrupt these patterns and restore trust in mental health systems. Addressing this inequity is not only about improving access to therapy; it is about affirming dignity, preventing harm, and creating conditions where healing and long-term well-being are possible for individuals and communities alike.
How’s it going? What has the response been?
The response has been strongly positive and continues to grow. We’ve seen consistent demand for our services, with waitlists that reflect both the scale of unmet mental health needs and the trust communities place in our model. Community members, clinicians, and partners have responded positively to our focus on culturally responsive care and barrier-free access, often noting that our approach fills a gap traditional systems have not addressed. While demand continues to outpace available resources, this response has reinforced both the urgency of the work and the importance of scaling in a thoughtful, sustainable way.
What’s next for Therapy Fund Foundation?
Our next phase focuses on scaling access while deepening impact. In the near future, we are expanding our free and subsidized therapy offerings, particularly for youth and young adults, and strengthening our telehealth infrastructure to reach individuals who face geographic, scheduling, or transportation barriers. We are also deepening partnerships with schools, community organizations, and employers to integrate mental health support into spaces where people already live, learn, and work.
An exciting area of growth is our investment in prevention and early intervention through peer support, community education, and healing-centered programming that addresses mental health before crisis points. We are also building stronger data and evaluation systems to better track outcomes, inform continuous improvement, and demonstrate long-term impact.
In relation to racism, what is your vision for the future?
In relation to racism, my vision for the future is one where systems are designed to actively repair harm rather than reproduce it. This means moving beyond performative commitments to equity and toward structural changes that ensure access, representation, and accountability across institutions particularly in health care, education, and social services.
I envision a future where Black and historically excluded communities no longer have to justify their pain to receive care, where culturally responsive support is the standard rather than the exception, and where mental health systems are equipped to understand the real impacts of racial trauma, chronic stress, and inequity.
Ultimately, my vision is one in which healing is not individualized in isolation but supported collectively through policies, practices, and investments that affirm dignity, reduce harm, and allow communities to thrive not just survive.
I love that vision, thanks, Ashley. Folx, please connect with Ashley on the Therapy Fund Foundation website, on LinkedIn or on Instagram.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon
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© Sharon Hurley Hall, 2026. All Rights Reserved.
Sharon Hurley Hall is an anti-racism educator, author of I’m Tired of Racism, and founder of the SHHARE anti-racism community and of Sharon’s Anti-Racism Newsletter, which provides tools and lived experiences to fuel systemic change. A seasoned professional writer and journalist, she leverages over 30 years of experience to mentor introverted leaders, and is co-founder and co-host of the Introvert Sisters Podcast. Her recent work focuses on helping Black and Global Majority women achieve high-impact visibility and professional influence without the exhaustion of performing extroversion.