About MTS · Since 1998
Twenty-eight years of meeting teens where they are.
Motivating the Teen Spirit runs emotional literacy programs for teens and young adults ages 13 to 25. We don’t hand teens a lecture. We help them build from the inside out.
Our story
Teens already have the answers. They need a room to find them.
Lisa Nichols founded Motivating the Teen Spirit in 1998 on one conviction: every teen already carries the answers to who they are and how they want to live. What most of them are missing is the room, the language and the people to help them find those answers.
So that is what MTS builds. In our programs, teens learn to name what they feel, say it clearly and choose their next step. They work in small groups with trained facilitators, hear from people who have walked a hard road themselves, and leave with tools they can use the next morning at school or at home.
We bring the work to schools and communities through the Safe Space Initiative, and to cities across the country through the MTS Tour: two days in the room, ending in a graduation the families attend.
- We meet teens where they are.
- No one has to perform, qualify or be in trouble to belong in the room.
- We build from the inside out.
- Confidence that comes from self-trust lasts longer than confidence that comes from approval.
- We never treat teens as broken.
- They are learning to navigate a world louder and faster than the one we grew up in.
What teens leave with
Seven life skills, taught in every program.
Lisa Nichols’s framework is the spine of every MTS program, whatever the format or the city.
Communicate with clarity instead of chaos.
Build confidence from the inside out, not from outside approval.
Develop a grounded, healthy self-image in a comparison-driven world.
Make thoughtful, values-aligned decisions under pressure.
Navigate relationships with respect, boundaries and emotional awareness.
Turn stress, confusion and overwhelm into self-awareness and direction.
Trust themselves enough to lead their own lives with intention and courage.
28 years in the room
What the work has added up to.
- teen suicides prevented
- 11,294
- teens served since 1998
- 28,450
- come back by choice for another program
- 84%
- report stronger confidence or self-trust
- 93%
Source: MTS records, from the program forms teens fill out at every program. Confirmed by Lisa Nichols, October 2026.
Leadership
Lisa Nichols
Founder
Lisa founded Motivating the Teen Spirit in 1998 and still shapes every program it runs. She is a New York Times bestselling author, was featured in The Secret, and has appeared on Oprah, the Today Show and CNN. Her work has reached more than 88 million people worldwide, and the room with teens is still where she says it matters most.
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Jelani Nichols
Program Director
Jelani leads the MTS Tour and programs day to day, from choosing cities and hosts to working with the partners and facilitators who make each program possible.
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Jessica Turner
Secretary and Chief Financial Officer, Empowering The Human Spirit
Jessica oversees finance, gift receipts and compliance for Empowering The Human Spirit, the 501(c)(3) that supports MTS.
The organization
Motivating the Teen Spirit is supported by Empowering The Human Spirit, a 501(c)(3).
Be part of it
Put a teen in the room.
Bring MTS to your school or community, partner with a Tour city, or give a teen a seat through the Safe Space Fund.