Hope Happens: Q&A with Anaïs DerSimonian, Executive Director of the Yellow Tulip Project
Anaïs DerSimonian (she/her) serves as the executive director of the Yellow Tulip Project, a nonprofit aiming to put mental health stigma “in the doghouse.” The organization has grown to a team of almost 700 youth ambassadors, has planted 524,000 yellow tulips as a sign of hope accross the country, and hosted photography exhibits with over 1 million viewers across the nation.
Anaïs combines a creative background in writing, filmmaking and media production with passion for youth mental health activism. Holding a BA in both Screen Studies and Culture Studies from Clark University ’17, DerSimonian understands the importance of youth agency in narrative storytelling and is fiercely dedicated to uplifting those voices in the pursuit of intergenerational and culturally competent mental health awareness.
Why did you initially become involved with the Yellow Tulip Project?
I have been working with The Yellow Tulip Project (YTP) since about 2020. I went to school for video and media studies, which meant my work involved a lot of marketing, a lot of what I considered to be soulless work. One of my clients was YTP. When COVID-19 happened, the need to talk about mental health grew exponentially and YTP felt like the only one of my clients that didn’t feel so soul sucking. I was doing good work and could feel the impact that I’m giving every day.
When I joined YTP full time, I eventually veered from doing video and graphics to a more leadership position, but I still get to pursue my passion and lead some of our media initiatives.
I’ve always cared about mental health. I’ve had friends who have struggled with their mental health and have lost people to mental health struggles. As an immigrant, nobody really talked about mental health in my family and there’s a lot of stigma surrounding mental health still in my own family and community. That’s why I love YTP’s mission which is to “smash the stigma.” We’re not clinicians. We believe that stigma is the biggest inhibitor to individuals seeking help. So if we work to smash the stigma, then people feel a little more empowered to seek the resources they need.
“We believe that stigma is the biggest inhibitor to individuals seeking help. So if we work to smash the stigma, then people feel a little more empowered to seek the resources they need.”
What are some initiatives that you’re most proud of with YTP?
We started with the hope garden initiative, which is our flagship programming. You plant tulip bulbs in October during mental health awareness week. They bloom in May during mental health awareness month and you host a mental health hope day celebration.
Now, we do a variety of things like workshops and arts-based programming. I’m most proud of our photo exhibit projects. We have these really cool interactive exhibits. One is called “I Am More: Facing Stigma” and is challenging perceptions of what mental health looks like. Our other exhibit is called “Young Men Moving Mountains” which is by and for young men. There is a staggering discrepancy between who is most at-risk of suicide and who are the people being provided care.
Both of these exhibits are powerful portraits with statements or written components that provide information about their specific experiences. These are traveling exhibits that may spend one week in a library, another in a company headquarters, or another in the Gilette stadium where the patriots play. They also have QR codes where you can scan into and listen to the person talking about their struggles, which adds an interactive component as well. We also invite people using a hashtag to submit their own stories, creating a growing network of individuals being strong, vulnerable, and powerful.
This year, we’d like to create a virtual database for all those stories to live online called the hope archive where people can search words like “depression,” “LGBTQ+,” or “Asian mental health” and find stories that match their criteria. That would be free and accessible online but there also is the opportunity to have an in-person instillation where you could put headphones on and listen to stories. This project also includes us sitting down at schools and conducting interviews to get materials for the hope lab.
How do you see the Yellow Tulip Project growing or evolving in coming years?
We’ve already grown so much since I’ve joined YTP. We’re getting so much great feedback on the photo exhibits and the media and storytelling component of our work. I think we’re going to start doing more in that lane and get involved in institutions like museums and galleries. The goal is to bring mental health to this arts and media scene.
I’d also love to grow our team and have different roles for programming and have a greater capacity. We are a tiny organization. We have two full-time people, a couple part-time people and hundreds of volunteers. In order for us to be as accessible as I’d like, we need to grow the organization as well.
Given your background in creative writing and filmmaking, how do you think that storytelling can be used as a tool for advocacy?
I think that personal stories are so powerful. A lot of times, hatred and fear come from the unknown and when someone doesn’t know something they have a negative reaction to it.
I think a lot of people either don’t know someone with mental illness or if they do, they don’t feel they should be ashamed of it or not talk about it. I really think these personal stories where people are sharing that they’re more than their mental illness are so impactful. You might have depression, but you’re also a friend, and have a dog and enjoy doing art. There’s many other parts to you. It’s especially powerful for young people to see other young people, to look at our interactive portraits and say “this is my peer” or “this is the popular kid in school” and even he’s talking about this. Those stories go a long way versus a statistic.
When you see a statistic, its like “yeah ok,” but seeing the faces and grounding it in a personal narrative is a storytelling device that makes the impact of these exhibits more powerful.
Have you ever had a moment that made you think, ‘This is why I do this work’?
I think just working with young people is really fun. The Yellow Tulip Project is youth-driven so even on our staff, we have people who are still teenagers, which is really awesome. Youth ambassadors can take on leadership roles, do internships, and get really involved. It’s really fun to do this work in this intergenerational way. I talk about what I was dealing with in high school and it’s different from what teens are dealing with in high school now.
Working alongside people that have different experiences but still believe in the same thing is the most fulfilling aspect of my work. Seeing them grow as young professionals and grow in their confidence. They’re people who I worked with as the graduate high school and then college. I get to see them grow and develop during this time.
Is there anything about the Yellow Tulip Project that you think is important for people to know?
Anyone can get involved and what that looks like can be different from person to person. You can sign up on our website as a young person or a community member, download the resources, and that could be the extent of your involvement. Or, you could host a hope day, plant a garden in your community, host our exhibits for a six-week period. There’s so much or so little you could do. It’s accessible to all.
