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PRESS RELEASE

April 27, 2025 – Founders of Over-The-Rainbow pledge fresh $1 million with the launch of The OTR Academy, setting its sight on further raising the bar on mental healthcare and community wellbeing in Singapore

Over-The-Rainbow (OTR),  a pioneer and trailblazer in youth mental wellness in Singapore, today announces the launch of  The OTR Academy .  For nearly 13 years, OTR has been innovating and pushing the mental health envelope with countless programs and initiatives, both online and offline, that collectively have touched about a million lives and transformed many others. The launch of The OTR Academy, the latest strategic initiative, emerges from a deep realization that when we embark on a quest for self-improvement and self-development through holistic self-care practices — finding our best self — we are in a better position to help others around us thrive. The founders of OTR, Yen-Lu and Yee Ling Chow have pledged an additional $1 million through their family foundation to power this thrust, fueling the team’s mission to empower 10,000 wellbeing practitioners through science and evidence-led courses and workshops by 2030.  

Through these courses and associated platforms of practice, the Academy is the very first in the world in developing a structured way individuals like parents, teachers and co-workers can equip themselves with the fundamentals of mental health and wellbeing, and to build on that foundation with advanced skill-sets like counselling, coaching and mentoring fundamentals. There are two stages for the pathway — certification as  Wellbeing Champions    at the first stage followed by a more advanced stage of being certified as  Wellbeing Mentors .  The first cohort scheduled to start in May is now open for registration.  

The Academy provides practitioners continuous opportunities for skills development and practice through various OTR initiatives - these initiatives include OTR Listens (a text-based chat supporting youth with emotional concerns), community and school outreach events like Wellbeing Champion Workshops & Festivals, subsidized youth counseling services, and Parental Support-Line / Parenting Circles (for parents who are concerned with their children’s mental health but are at loss on what to do). The Academy will continue to create opportunities for wellbeing practitioners to hone their craft in the community and at the workplace with its ongoing efforts in developing relevant initiatives and partnerships.

“The OTR Academy grew out of our 13 years of extensive experience working with youth, parents, families, and the community in mental wellness. Wellbeing begins with each of us — with the adoption of holistic and transformative self-care habits — where it then ripples outwards — expanding and extending into an interconnected ecosystem of community-led model of care involving family, friends, teachers, and peers. We call this ecosystem the Circle-of-Care. As a wellbeing practitioner and mentor, you are at the heart of your own wellbeing circle and in a pole position to provide support for the wellbeing of your loved ones and those in your immediate network. We are reimagining and reinventing community mental health care as we know it,” explains Yen-Lu Chow.

With Singapore’s growing focus on mental health and the launch of the National Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy in late 2024, OTR is leading the movement in preventive and preemptive mental healthcare by empowering key community influencers — parents, families, educators, employers, and peers.

The OTR team collectively has over 50 years of experience in the mental health space, bringing extensive expertise, passion, agility and execution capability to this mission, and by partnering with established organizations that include the Asia Institute of Mentoring, International Coaching Federation, The School of Positive Psychology, Think Psychological Services, EveryChild.SG and other community partners. OTR will continue to grow this coalition of like-minded partners to drive community-powered well-being nation-wide.

“We envision the OTR Academy to be a leading  talent hub  for community mental health — creating a community of Wellbeing Ambassadors ,  Champions and Mentors — at home,  in the school,  out in the community, at the workplace — leading the movement in wellbeing while raising the bar in mental wellbeing for Singapore. And in the age of pervasive AI and digital technologies, having this network of care all around us - and in the community to enable authentic human care and connections is especially critical,” concluded Yen-Lu.

Media Contact: marcom@overtherainbow.sg

Public:  Academy@overtherainbow.sg

OTR Academy website: www.overtherainbow.sg/Academy