Closegap and Koko Unite to Meet Students Where They Are
Young people are asking for help in two main places: in school and online. Closegap exists to help schools respond, and Koko exists to help online platforms respond. Now we are working together to bring Koko’s Single Session Interventions (SSIs) right into Closegap’s platform for students to use at school.
Koko Cares
Koko is a nonprofit focused on ending the youth mental health crisis by reaching young people where they already are online, through platforms like social media and messaging apps such as Tiktok, Tumblr, and Snapchat.
Koko grew out of Co-founder Rob Morris’s PhD work at the MIT Media Lab. Since then, Koko’s platform has been analyzed in more than nine peer-reviewed publications, including three randomized controlled trials on depression, anxiety, and crisis support.
Rob reports their incredible journey to scale: “Now we've reached over 6 million people in 199 countries.” Their impact on wellbeing is impressive - with users overwhelming saying their short resources are helpful and improve feelings of hopelessness, body image, and suicidal thoughts.
Uniting to reach youth
“Students tell us what they’re struggling with every single day in their check-ins,” said Rachel Miller, Closegap’s Founder & CEO. “We’re not guessing at topics — we’re using millions of real student reflections and partnering with organizations like Koko to bring in support.”
When we spoke with Rob, he described Koko’s philosophy like this:
“We are both organizations that reach people where they are. Koko reaches people online, Closegap reaches youth in school. We need groups like ours to work together to impact problems so big they cannot be solved by one group alone.”
That is the heart of the partnership. Closegap uses daily check-ins and student voice to surface who is struggling and what they are dealing with. Koko brings rigorously tested interventions that can be completed in under ten minutes and have already shown impact on depression, hope, body image, and crises. Their interventions add to the wealth of resources now available to students on Closegap’s platform.
Why this matters for schools
Closegap has now captured more than 9 million student check-ins across partner schools. That gives us a rare, real-time view into what young people are actually struggling with day-to-day. Body image, self-harm, and safety worries show up again and again, which is why Koko’s SSIs on these topics are the first we’re bringing into Closegap.
Implementation and research for online SSIs were pioneered by Dr. Jessica L. Schleider who leads the Lab for Scalable Mental Health at Northwestern University. Koko works closely with the Lab for Scalable Mental Health for further development and dissemination of many of their SSI topics.
Youth mental health is bigger than any one counselor, tool, or organization. Rob does not sugarcoat it:
“The mental health of students is a problem that is complex and nuanced. Students deserve options, and partnerships like this give us a better chance at providing support that resonates when and where they need it.”
For district leaders and school teams, that means concrete improvements:
You are targeting the issues that show up most often in your own students’ check-in data (like body image, self-harm, and suicidality), instead of guessing which topics to prioritize.
You can point to independent, peer-reviewed evidence when you explain why you are using these resources. The research indicates that just one session can make a difference.
Counselors and teachers get to use SSIs that fit into real school schedules instead of another giant program they have to build from scratch.
Students who are flagged for support through a Closegap check in can receive a brief, targeted next step that is grounded in both science and lived youth experience.
In short: Koko extends what Closegap can offer. Closegap gives Koko a trusted pathway into schools. Students get more care, in the places they already are, from partners who are serious about evidence and impact.
