Our Story
Our Story
Mindsets, Mental Health, and Measurable Growth — Who We Are
At 7 Mindsets, we believe that everyone should have the resources for growth, so we provide mindset-based and mental health learning solutions that drive measurable impact by assessing, guiding, and supporting the well-being of all.
For over 15 years, we’ve cultivated a proven track record in creating thriving learning communities. Having worked with more than five million learners and educators in communities coast to coast, we know how to create healthy culture and climate that goes beyond the classroom. Our mindset-based curriculum, targeted mental health interventions, and customized measurement tools work together to create a sense of well-being and achievement that lasts a lifetime.
Our Mission
Our mission is to expand the potential of students and educators, helping them dream bigger, pursue their passions, have meaningful relationships, thrive in and out of school, and make the world a better place.
Nashid Sharieff Congratulating Ricky Amar at 7 Mindsets Student Summit
Our Values
7 Mindsets strives to measurably improve the lives of students, educators, and the community, empowering growth for all.
At the center of 7 Mindsets’ mission and work is empowering students, educators, and communities to lead their best lives. The way we show up for our school partners and each other ties to our six company values. As 7 Mindsets empowerees, we strive to live these values each day, celebrate those who embody them, and reward those whose values-focused actions and behaviors serve as inspiration for others.
Our Commitment
7 Mindsets is committed to ensuring that students, educators, and the entire school community have hope for the future, a firm belief in their potential, and a strong sense of belonging and connection.
7 Mindsets: A Study to Uncover the Pattern for Happiness and Success
In 2006, 7 Mindsets’ founders launched an extensive study that asked a single question: What allows an individual to attain happiness in life? The findings were simple, yet evident. Happiness and success are not predicated on what individuals know or where they come from; instead, it is grounded in how we think.
With this positive impact in mind, the founders understood the need to create a common language and lexicon that was engaging and accessible. The 7 Mindsets and corresponding 28 Learning Objectives became the common language around which the 7 Mindsets curriculum was developed.
7 Mindsets has impacted over 5,000,000 students, educators, staff, and families — positively changing the way individuals think about themselves, their future, and empowering them to live lives of passion, purpose, and joy.
Base: Developed to Support Students in Crisis
Nearly a decade ago, Robin Glenn, a school-based therapist and private practice clinician, began developing meaningful and evidence-based content for her students that she hoped would be engaging as well as therapeutically sound. Over time, this content was used in neighboring schools, districts, and across state lines. While reception of the content was positive, the paper-based curriculum was not scalable.
Then came news of a local student who committed suicide after receiving an in-school suspension for marijuana use. This tragic event pushed Glenn to find a scalable solution—to ensure no student would ever fall through the cracks or feel hopeless.
Glenn and developer Mac Angell formed BASE Education, an online solution that was engaging, clinically sound, innovative, and eye-opening for the adults in schools. Now known as Base, the platform continues to be the only fully online program that meets students where they are for comfort, safety, and empowerment, allowing them to be heard and to exercise their thoughts in a meaningful and engaging conversation.
Insights: Improve student outcomes by helping educators understand children’s strengths and needs.
In 2007, Dr. Clark McKown founded the research department at the Rush NeuroBehavioral Center in Chicago. The focus of their work was on finding, developing, and field-testing performance-based direct assessments of children’s social and emotional competence, with aspirations to create assessments that were more informative than self-report surveys and teacher rating scales.
The team found that performance-based direct assessments worked well. Colleagues in schools suggested that these are competencies all students need, so they started developing assessments for all children. They sought and obtained several large grants from the Institute of Education Sciences to develop and validate web-based direct assessments of social and emotional competence.
In 2016, the SELweb assessment for Grades K-3 was validated and Dr. McKown created xSEL Labs, now known as Insights. In 2018, SELweb was validated for Grade 4-6, and in 2020, for grades 7 and 8. At the same time, the company also added a competency survey for grades 6-12, a school climate survey for grades K-12, and adult SEL measures.
Today, Insights is the primary measurement tool for all 7 Mindsets products and solutions, ensuring that schools and districts have the data to measure the growth of their students and the overall effectiveness of their program implementation.
