Founder & Executive Director — Connected Youth Network
Every young person deserves to feel they belong — not as a buzzword, but as something real they carry with them every day.
With an M.Ed. and 20+ years in social work, Janice designs environments where young people are seen, heard, and centered — keeping CYN grounded in compassion, rigor, and the power of peer connection.
Janice Houlihan has spent more than 20 years at the intersection of youth development, social work, and social-emotional wellbeing — in schools, nonprofits, and communities nationwide.
With an M.Ed. and a career rooted in social work, she designs environments where young people are seen, heard, and centered. Her work has long focused on upstream prevention: building daily practices that help students and educators manage stress, strengthen connection, and reduce harm before crises escalate.
Belonging and safety, built in from the start — that conviction shapes Connected Youth Network.
Creating measurable improvements in student wellbeing, school culture, and learning outcomes.
Connection matters — but safe belonging matters even more.
After years working with young people, one pattern became clear. CYN was created to intentionally design spaces where youth feel seen, supported, and empowered.
— Janice Houlihan
Explores how neuroscience-informed interventions — assessed and advanced through organizations like BrainFutures — can improve outcomes in K–12 education, the workforce, and aging populations through practical, evidence-based brain fitness approaches.
Documents how daily mindfulness in schools can reduce bullying and reactive behavior — including trial findings where bullying incidents fell by half — and why brief, consistent practice helps students and teachers build safer, more positive classroom cultures.