Chanda L. Spates
Chanda L. Spates is the Founder & CEO of Flourish Foundation Project Inc., a federally recognized community behavioral health organization working to redefine how communities respond to the youth mental health and suicide crisis. In the United States, suicide claims more than 51,000 lives each year, with approximately 1.7 million suicide attempts annually, and children and youth account for nearly 23 percent of those lost. Spates’ work focuses on building collaborative prevention ecosystems that meet children and youth where they are—in schools, community centers, and on the digital platforms youth spend up to 7.5 hours a day engaging with after school—using music, gaming, and creative media as powerful channels for resilience, awareness, and prevention.
A mother of five, including a set of triplets, Spates was driven to launch the organization after her own family experienced the reality of youth suicide risk when her son survived a suicide attempt. Frustrated by the limited solutions available that truly resonated with children and youth, she applied her professional background in corporate gap analysis and strategic problem solving to examine where prevention systems were failing to reach youth. That analysis became the foundation for a new approach designed to meet children and youth within the environments that most influence their lives.
Through youth enrichment initiatives such as SoundQuest Station, children and youth engage in hands-on experiences in music creation, esports, digital media production, and creative storytelling while developing leadership skills, confidence, and purpose. A central component of the program is future-focused career exploration, introducing youth to emerging and high-demand career pathways across fields such as technology, medicine, media, sports, and other industries shaping a rapidly evolving world. Research consistently shows that when youth begin to see meaningful possibilities for their future, their sense of purpose strengthens and risk factors associated with suicide are dramatically reduced.
Participants learn practical prevention and resilience-building strategies and reinforce those lessons through a learn-and-teach-back model, where youth create music, media, and peer-to-peer messages that share prevention insights and encouragement with others on the same digital platforms they already use—spaces where resilience and prevention messaging are often absent. In doing so, youth become powerful ambassadors of hope and positive influence within their own peer networks.
Spates developed the F.I.R.E. Ecosystem (Flourish, Impact, Resilience, and Excellence), a collaborative prevention framework designed to surround children and youth with reinforcing messages of hope, purpose, and opportunity across the environments that influence their lives. The ecosystem brings together educators, community organizations, national brands, professional athletes, music artists, and cross-sector leaders whom youth look up to, ensuring that messages of resilience are consistently reinforced across schools, youth programs, digital platforms, and national awareness initiatives.
This ecosystem approach comes to life through initiatives such as Every11Minutes.org and the Play & Stay — Live Championship™: Esports, Music & Wellness Youth Summit, developed in collaboration with the Olympic Regional Development Authority and live-streamed nationwide with interactive youth participation from the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York. Through esports competitions, music, creative media, and youth-led storytelling, the summit demonstrates how gaming and creative culture can serve as stigma-free entry points for youth to learn and demonstrate prevention and resilience strategies, supported by partners and national brands that youth recognize and trust.
Spates holds a Master of Human Resource Management from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University and is a certified QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Gatekeeper Trainer in suicide prevention. She is also a contributing author in the international bestselling anthology Beyond Boundaries: Thriving in Life’s Gray Zone, alongside leadership expert Dr. Constance J. Leland.
As a woman leader committed to turning personal experience into meaningful change, Chanda Spates continues to champion innovative, collaborative solutions that empower children and youth to embrace life, discover purpose, and build brighter futures—fueling safe, caring, and globally competitive communities.
• QPR Gatekeeper Trainer Certification
• Mental Health First Aid Certification
• Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University - MHRM
• Fayetteville State University
• Liberty University Social Work
• Every 11 Minutes Campaign
• Play and Stay Live Championship at U.S. Olympic Center
• SoundQuest Station Podcast
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my passion for this work, my faith, and not taking no for an answer. What drives me is that I wake up every day excited about what I get to do, not what I have to do. I have the privilege of doing something amazing - I can literally say that my work every day saves lives. It's the most rewarding thing because even though I work more than I ever have, there are absolutely no complaints. If God gave you the vision, He'll give you the provision, so I just keep going forward even when I don't know what the steps are. I'm intentional about building a circle of people around me who genuinely want to see me win, and I never shrink my vision just because other people can't see it.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice came from my mentor Julie Pate Nodden when I worked at Sprint. She would ask me in our team meetings, 'What do you want to do? Where do you want to see yourself?' She saw me doing well in my sales position answering phones, but she wanted to see me go further. She recognized my passion for training and development when I would make presentations for our team meetings, and she helped me see that path forward. Because of her coaching and guidance, I ended up becoming a high-impact performance trainer for Sprint. She taught me to look beyond where I was and envision where I could be, and that approach of coaching people to their potential rather than just managing their current role has shaped how I lead and coach others today.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice is to understand that you can do it. If God gave you the vision, He'll give you the provision, so go forward even if you don't know what the steps are. Avoid shrinking yourself - a lot of people tell us what we cannot do as women, saying you can't be superwoman. But I literally am Superwoman - I'm a mama of five including triplets, and I run four businesses. The thing is, you can do it, and a lot of times the answer isn't in one thing. Everyone will always tell you to focus on one thing, but I am the exact opposite. I focus on what God has given me and trust that He will guide me through that. Do not shrink your vision because other people can't see it. You have to be your own hero for yourself first before you can do anything for anyone else. Be very intentional about building the circle around you - find people who genuinely want to see you win. Challenges are lessons learned and they're getting you to your pathway, so just keep going. Do not shrink your vision, just do it, and build the team around you that can support that.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is that youth suicide has reached crisis levels - it's now a matter of national security according to the Department of Defense as of September last year. They're not meeting their recruiting goals for the 18 to 24 age group, and youth suicide is one of the top three contributing factors to that. The statistics are staggering: 1.7 million suicide attempts a year, 21,000 deaths a year, and 23% of those are children. That equates to one life lost every 11 minutes. Here in Charlotte, we have the highest suicide rate in the state of North Carolina, ranking number 1 out of 100 per capita. Another major challenge is that people are working in silos - I've met amazing people doing amazing programs, but if we're all working independently, we're not getting the impact that we could have. The opportunity is in collaborative impact, bringing everyone together to ask what can we do together. We need to reach kids where they already are - they're going online and playing games regardless, so if we put wellness and prevention things right there where they are, we can make a real difference. The education system isn't prepared for how fast technology is moving, so there's a huge opportunity to train children for the skill paths that are going to be needed through micro-certifications and hands-on experience.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important values to me are faith, service to others, and not shrinking my vision. I believe that if God gave you the vision, He'll give you the provision, and that faith guides everything I do. Service to others is at the core of my work - I wake up every day with the privilege of doing something that saves lives. I value building genuine relationships and collaborative impact rather than working in silos. I believe in being intentional about surrounding yourself with people who genuinely want to see you win. I also value continuous learning and growth - I'm a self-described nerd who doesn't watch television except the news because I'd rather spend my time learning whatever the next thing is that makes me happy. Most importantly, I value being your own hero first before you can help anyone else, and never letting other people's limitations define what you can achieve.