our mission

OkaySo is a nonprofit that uses technology to improve the health and well-being of young adults. Built using youth-informed design, OkaySo envisions a world where young adults have the safe spaces and support they need to navigate the complexities of their lives and make the decisions that are best for them.

OkaySo provides online, on-demand trainings to youth workers, helping them be the safe spaces young people desperately need. From empathy and active listening to dealing with abuse, mental health, and more, OkaySo’s trainings are improving the way youth are treated in the organizations they turn to for help.

the founding team

Elise Schuster and Francisco Ramírez, cofounders of OkaySo, met in 2007 during a Masters of Public Health program at Columbia University and we instantly clicked. We were working on various side projects together when we got the initial idea for OkaySo after a conversation about how we felt technology and mental/public health could be doing more to meet young people where they are.

about elise

Elise Schuster, MPH (they/them), is a health educator with 15 years of experience in youth development and health education. Elise has a masters in public health from Columbia University and began their work in public health at Physicians for Reproductive Health, training doctors to provide adolescent-friendly reproductive health care. Elise also spent many years teaching workshops at Babeland and having thousands of one-on-one educational health conversations.

After their MPH, Elise spent almost a decade at a premiere NYC youth development center serving over 11,000 young people every year. Elise had several roles here including running intake and assessment for over 30 new young people every day, overseeing capacity building work, managing student volunteers, launching a professional training institute, and a youth council, and overseeing a $6.5 million wraparound services grant with twelve subgrantee partners.

Elise is a skilled trainer, facilitator and consultant who helps companies and organizations become safe spaces for everyone. Elise is featured as an entrepreneur in the award-winning book Leapfrog, is a Roddenberry Foundation Fellow, and an Ashoka Fellow.

about francisco

Francisco Ramírez (they/he) holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health where he was named a Rosenfield Scholar.

For 20 years, Francisco has dedicated his career to responding to the public health needs of communities worldwide. He has led multi-lingual training, education and research efforts for organizations including: the United Nations (UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations), MTV, Durex, Hetrick-Martin Institute, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York Academy of Medicine, and the NAACP.

Francisco also serves as a prominent voice in the media on health issues. He is a regular host and producer at MTV as well as other television networks. His contributions include overseeing production of content for the award-winning MTV Staying Alive campaign and serving as a Global Correspondent for MTV Voices. Francisco is also sought out to create dynamic multimedia content for health education organizations.