Martin Rafferty | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1987 (age 37–38) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Philanthropist, activist |
| Years active | 2009 - present |
Martin Rafferty is an American activist and philanthropist who is the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Youth ERA (formerly known as Youth Move Oregon). [1]
Rafferty lived through a period of homelessness when he was 12. [1] He is an adoptee. [2]
Rafferty founded Youth ERA in Eugene, Oregon under the name Youth Move Oregon (Youth MVO) in 2009, when he was 22 years old. [1] [3] [4] Youth ERA provides youth mental health services in areas such as peer support, [5] crisis response, [6] and suicide prevention. [7]
Rafferty was named the 2013 Children’s Mental Health Advocate of the Year by the Oregon Council of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. [8]
Rafferty was one of eight individuals profiled in the 2017 exhibit titled “Inspiring People & Projects” at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Discovery Center in Seattle, Washington. [1] [9]
Rafferty was also named one of Rising Business Stars’ 20 Under 40 in 2018. [10]
In 2020, Rafferty and Youth ERA opened a youth drop-in center known as the Eugene Drop in Eugene. [11] Rafferty and Youth ERA also collaborated with Oxford University to develop the pilot event Uplift in 2020, which taught participants how to exercise self-care and help prevent child abuse. [4] [12] Rafferty also partnered with Oxford University on a research project centered on online peer support, co-developing the peer support training program used in the project. [13]