May has arrived, and with it comes Mental Health Awareness Month. At Surge, we’re shining the light on an important issue: the mental health and well-being of Black and Brown educators.

Founded by Mental Health America in 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month returns in 2026 with the theme, “More Good Days, Together.” 

For Black and Brown principals, assistant principals, and education leaders carrying the weight of entire communities every single day, a good day qualifies as a radical act of survival.

The statistics demand accountability. Around 1 in 5 adults in the United States experienced a mental illness in the past year, and nearly 30 million people lack access to affordable mental health treatment. 

The crisis runs deeper inside school buildings. Senior school leaders report the highest burnout rates of any group in education, with 37% experiencing burnout compared to 27% of classroom teachers. Race sharpens the urgency further: According to the National Education Association, 62% of Black teachers and 59% of Hispanic and Latino teachers plan to leave the profession earlier than planned. Educators who are already critically underrepresented in a system that desperately needs them.

This describes the environment where Surge Institute's 500-plus alumni lead every day. They walk into schools where 1 in 5 youth live with a mental health condition. They absorb the emotional labor of communities historically underserved and overlooked, and they do it with excellence and joy, which the system has never fully honored.

Mental Health Awareness Month stands as an active declaration on the Surge calendar. The Surge community, built on connection, restoration, acceleration, and transformation, has long understood something mainstream education leadership discourse continues to discover: healing and leading belong to the same work. 

The most effective principals have had community, coaching, and culturally affirming space to process their experiences, grow from them, and lead with them.

Inside the Surge network, that work has been underway for a decade. 

Surge Fellows grow in cohort circles alongside people who share their lived experience. The Black Principals Network members find restoration in spaces built specifically for them. Surge Academy participants build powerful local movements.

The Surge community stands alongside educators in every moment that makes a good day possible.

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