ABOUT US
OUR MISSION
We aspire to combine the best elements of humans and technology to help students learn resilience and reach their Inner Peaks by delivering 24/7 access to affordable, personalized, and high-quality mental wellness support.
OUR STORY
Mental health has always been a personal passion for both Ben and Sean. After becoming friends in college, they reconnected years later, and they discovered a mutual commitment to improving mental wellness, driven by their own journeys and their interest in positive psychology.
Reflecting on their own struggles, Ben and Sean realized a significant gap in mental health resources and support during their school years. This inspired them to create Peak – an anonymous, affordable, and effective mental wellness resource tailored for high school and college students.
Peak embodies the support they wished they had, aiming to make a meaningful difference in the lives of young people facing similar struggles. Peak strives to empower students to navigate their mental wellness journeys with confidence and resilience.
MEET THE TEAM
Sean Wheelock
Co-Founder & CEO
Sean’s background is in Applied Math and psychology. After graduating from Harvard, he worked in management consulting at Bain & Company’s New York office. His personal struggles with mental health inspired him to leave his role at Bain to pursue entrepreneurship in the mental health space, attending Stanford Graduate School of Business and working in strategy, operations, and sales roles at four different mental health and wellness startups before founding Inner Peak. In his free time, Sean loves running marathons, golfing, and reading psychology and business books.
Ben Anandappa
Co-Founder & CTO
Ben’s experience is in computer science, psychology and public health. After graduating from Harvard, he worked as a software engineer at Citadel in Chicago, a city he is now happy to call home. Ben’s desire to have more social impact, along with personal challenges from his upbringing, led him to explore careers in academia, focusing on the science of romantic relationships and the social network factors underlying HIV. Outside of work, Ben enjoys genealogy, working out, reading and spending time exploring new restaurants with his husband.
Dona Tversky
CLINICAL ADVISOR
Dona is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with many years of experience practicing and teaching psychotherapy with diverse populations. She also has a background in public health. Dona is a professor at Stanford Medical School, where she also earned her MD and learned how to roller skate. She is personally and professionally driven to make the world a more psychologically minded place, and to design social spaces that bring out the best traits in all of us.
MIKE MALEY
head of content
Mike is an Emmy-Award winning content leader with a decade of experience in digital media. His own personal struggles inspired Mike to take his passion for creating impactful content to the mental health space, directing content at Real (now Zeera) before joining Inner Peak.
Dr. Seneka Gainer
Clinical Content Lead
Seneka is an assistant professor of clinical mental health counseling at Jacksonville University. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), licensed professional counselor (LPC), and NBCC board-certified counselor (NCC). Her primary work involves teaching prospective therapists. She was drawn to Peak through her desire to impact the ethical use of AI in the counseling field.
TALIA AKERMAN
Senior Content Creator
Talia is a licensed bilingual mental health counselor with degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University and the University of Florida. She believes in providing a safe, welcoming space to meet clients where they’re at with a sprinkle of humor and frankness. When she is not guiding students towards their best selves, you can find her on her lifelong pursuit of finding the world’s best chocolate chip cookie.
Aanu Jide-Ojo
Content Creator
Aanu is a psychotherapist with degrees from Covenant University and the University of Ibadan.. Aanu is passionate about collaborating with young adults and creating a safe space for healing, learning, and growth, while helping them discover those transformative aha moments. In her free time, she enjoys reading romance novels, rewatching her favorite shows, and exploring the world of fashion on TikTok.
KARIN GOLD
Content Creator
Karin Gold, LMFT is a psychotherapist, and expert facilitator in California, helping Mental Health startups create dynamic and compelling evidence-based content. She strives to provide compassionate, authentic and culturally sensitive psychotherapy to fulfill her ultimate goal of destigmatizing mental health. Karin enjoys baking, painting, and spending as much time as she can outdoors.
Angel Carswell
Content Creator
Angel is a Licensed Independent Social Worker in South Carolina with a Master’s in Social Work from the University of South Carolina. She is trained in Motivational Interviewing, CBT, DBT, and Solutions-Focused Therapy. Angel has worked with many teens and believes in helping clients identify their strengths in order for them to grow and achieve their goals.
Jamahl Jones
Content Creator
After graduating with his Masters degree and obtaining his social work license, Jamahl started his career as a private practice clinical therapist. As a licensed social worker, helping others thrive in society is his ultimate goal. He currently specializes in helping young people dealing with trauma, grief, and depression through multiple modes of therapy including CBT, EMDR, and Play Therapy. He enjoys watching and playing sports, reading, and traveling in his free time.
Dr. Tiffany Clomax
Content Creator
Dr. Clomax is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with experience working with adolescents and young adults. Dr. Clomax is also deeply passionate about the intersection between quality mental health care and technology. She was drawn to Inner Peak AI for the opportunity to expand mental health resources and increase access to care for everyone.
COLETTE DALTON
Content Creator
Colette (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and certified sex therapist based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. She loves working with clients to help them improve their lives in all sorts of ways. In her free time, you can generally find her reading a book or playing Disney Emoji Blitz on her phone.
Victor AndersoN
Content Creator
Victor is a Registered Mental Health Counselor with a Graduate Degree from Jacksonville University and a Graduate Certificate in Play Therapy Techniques. He specializes in youth, teen, and young adult therapy. Victor is passionate about self-belief and self-esteem knowing that it begins within you. In his spare time he contributes to his community as a youth soccer coach and being a Disney Dad.
Jared sossin
Content Creator
A graduate of Wake Forest University, Jared earned a BA with Honors in Psychology and went on to complete a Master’s in clinical mental health counseling. His clinical interests encompass the negative mental health effects of excessive screen time and young adults facing career, identity, and relationship challenges. He is an award-winning meditation teacher and co-founder of a neurofeedback bioware startup.
Dr. Jared Minkel
Content Creator
Dr. Jared Minkel is a clinical psychologist and behavioral sleep medicine expert. He has created self guided content and programs to help people with insomnia, depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns in the past. He is passionate about getting high quality, accurate mental health information to as many people as possible.
Harvard grads raise $600K and are accepted into prestigious Techstars accelerator to
tackle youth mental health crisis with AI
Sean Wheelock and Ben Anandappa, Co-Founders of Inner Peak AI, based in Toledo, Ohio, took their first major step today towards tackling the youth mental health crisis through their acceptance into the prestigious Economic Mobility Techstars accelerator program based in New York City.
Techstars programs typically have a ~1% acceptance rate and come with investment, mentorship, and a 3-month intensive startup bootcamp designed to rapidly advance promising startups. This acceptance concludes an initial round of fundraising that totals $600K.
“About 60% of college students meet the diagnosable criteria for having a mental illness,” stated Wheelock. “And our best option today is therapy. But what do we do when our therapists aren’t available? Or worse, if we can’t afford a therapist?”
This is why Wheelock and Anandappa created Inner Peak: to be there in times therapists can’t.