USD Magazine Spring 2026

Turning Pain Into Purpose NOTE: This story contains references to suicide and

is also creating Crisis Generation , a feature-length documentary that expands beyond the research in her book. She has traveled across the globe to interview leading researchers and people who work in the mental health space, asking questions and trying to gain a better understanding of the cracks within the system to learn how we can improve mental health access. That same drive led her to found the WeBelong Institute, a San Diego County nonprofit offering free programs and community-building events to promote mental health, belonging and connection. “Loneliness is one of the biggest contributors to depression and anxiety,” she said. “Research shows loneliness increases mortality risk by 30%.” The WeBelong Institute oversees programming for K-12 students in afterschool settings, for seniors and for the broader community, using therapeutic and evidence-based strategies developed in consultation with psychologists and social workers. One of its flagship programs brings Vredenburgh and a therapist to Monarch School in Barrio Logan each week, where they guide unhoused middle schoolers through social-emotional learning via theater, music and art. Mood scales administered before and after each session tell the story plainly — children who arrive anxious and dysregulated leave calm and connected. “The only way to know if you’ve had an impact is if you measure it,” Vredenburgh said. “I love research because it gives us an opportunity to improve.” Vredenburgh credits the Kroc School with shaping not just how she measures her work, but why she cares deeply about it. “What the Kroc School instilled in me is that innovation is really about being that person that no one else is,” she said. “Finding the cracks and trying to fill them. I found a crack.” She has been filling it ever since — speaking at conferences across the globe, running her nonprofit and pushing toward the finish line on her documentary. Through all of it, she keeps going because, she said, the alternative is unthinkable. “Right now, at this point in history, we’ve never been more depressed, anxious or lonely,” she said. “And it’s not by accident. But we have a duty to ourselves and each other to make a difference and change the trajectory of history. There’s still time.” — Kelsey Grey ’15 (BA)

mental health challenges. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. Aly Vredenburgh ’20 (BA), ’23 (MA) was 14 years old when she decided she was done with life. She had been bullied for years, and the pain had become too much. Her mother had an instinct to check in on her daughter the night Vredenburgh attempted to take her own life. That instinct saved her daughter’s life. “If my mom hadn’t checked on me that night,” Vredenburgh, now 29, said, “I wouldn’t be here.” Vredenburgh has emerged as one of the most compelling youth mental health advocates of her generation — a researcher, author, nonprofit founder, documentary filmmaker and keynote speaker who has taken her darkest hour and turned it into purpose. Vredenburgh arrived at the University of San Diego drawn by the university’s reputation for social justice and its Changemaker Hub. She earned a presidential scholarship, completed a sociology degree with a social justice emphasis from the College of Arts and Sciences and returned to earn a Master of Arts in social innovation from USD’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies in 2023. “I really liked their social justice emphasis,” she said of USD. “And I mean, it’s literally the most beautiful campus in the world. But beyond that, it just felt like a place where I could actually do something.” That conviction was tested — and forged — during her time in graduate school. Two weeks before she began the Kroc School’s master’s program, her closest friend took her life. The loss leveled Vredenburgh. For a year, she said, she barely got out of bed. “You don’t understand the value of life until it’s gone,” she said. “I felt like I had to do something. It was beyond me. This is affecting millions of people every year, and no one’s doing anything about it.” The grief became fuel. Vredenburgh channeled it into what she calls “turning pain into purpose,” publishing Out of Focus: Why Gen Z’s Mental Health Crisis is More Complex Than You Think , a look at the factors driving the decline in adolescent mental health. Vredenburgh She is not only here. She is on a mission. Born and raised in Carlsbad, California,

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