Virgil Moorehead Jr. & Amy Mathieson, 2026 Leadership Award Recipients
Virgil Moorehead Jr. & Amy Mathieson, 2026 Leadership Award Recipients
Transforming youth mental health by integrating clinical care, culture, and leadership.
Virgil Moorehead Jr., PsyD. (Yurok/Tolowa) was working as a clinical psychologist at Stanford when he realized that Native youth would benefit most from psychologists who were integrated in the community and engaging with youth in their daily environments. Seizing an opportunity to put this philosophy into practice, he joined Two Feathers Native American Family Services (Two Feathers) in 2018. Amy Mathieson, LCSW, joined Two Feathers as a mental health clinician in 2020, providing direct services to youth. She soon advanced to Director of the Youth Leadership Development Program, where her clinical background helped her blend mental health services with leadership and workforce development. Together, they grew Two Feathers from a single-therapist operation to an organization delivering over 7,900 counseling sessions annually across 12 school districts.
“If we want to have an impact on our youth, we have to change how we show up. Not as distant experts, but as invested community members fighting alongside our young people.”
In 2020 Moorehead and Mathieson embarked on extensive listening sessions and convened youth advisory councils to understand the needs of Native youth. In collaboration with partners the leaders launched the Two Feathers Youth Leadership Program, an integrated model that combines mental health services, cultural practices like regalia-making and language learning, and paid employment for youth ages 16-22. Alumni report improved confidence, reduced substance use, and strengthened cultural identity—and have gone on to long-term employment, post-secondary education, and leadership roles in their communities. Moorehead and Mathieson are demonstrating that when mental health approaches are grounded in cultural practices, they do not just treat symptoms; they build the next generation of leaders.
“We’re building a model where mental health, cultural connection, and workforce development aren’t separate — they’re all part of preparing youth to lead healthy, purposeful lives rooted in their identity.”
