According to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, more than 30 million Americans lack access to comprehensive, high-quality care with one-in-six youth having a mental health condition and 50 percent of lifetime mental health illnesses diagnosed by age 14.
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month—an annual observance highlighting the importance of educating the public to promote those affected by mental health conditions—Eric Sullivan ‘00, '01 founded Uneo Health to develop the Prosper app, making it easier for young people to access mental health resources.
Every month, thousands of students pull out their phones, open the Prosper app, and take a moment to reflect on how they’re feeling.
Prosper, an app that serves as a self-care companion, helps keep mental wellbeing top of mind, and at users’ fingertips. The purpose of the app is to help young people build a habit of taking care of their mental health, something that has become more urgent since COVID-19 stopped normal life in its tracks back in 2020.
“Mental health permeates the fabric of our lives and our networks,” says Sullivan, who co-created the app with his son Alden.
Finding Inspiration
It was during the pandemic that the Sullivans were inspired to found Uneo Health and develop a platform that makes it easier for young people to access mental health resources. They witnessed family and friends struggling, and wanted to help.
“My mom had died the year prior, and I had lost two cousins and two friends to suicide. My son had lost a friend as well,” explains Sullivan, whose own struggles with stress and anxiety make him keenly aware of the need for easy access to support. “I really wanted to do something to make a difference.”
With Alden home from college due to the pandemic, they had plenty of time for conversations around the kitchen counter. The pressing topic of mental health was front and center, and the conversations soon became brainstorming sessions about ways to provide mental health resources and support for young people.
“We quickly landed on the idea that it had to be an app,” explains Sullivan.
They spent the next six months talking to as many people as they could from his extensive professional network. They also visited high schools and colleges to see what kind of tools young people wanted in a mental health app.
“We just bombarded ourselves with data points to see where things landed and what would make sense for us to do,” he adds. “One common thread was to keep it simple.”
An App is Born
The Sullivans brought on local high school and college interns—including those from UMGC—to help create and launch the Prosper app. During the research phase, they learned that many students use separate apps for journaling, tracking their moods, monitoring their habits and sending themselves reminders.
The challenge for Prosper was to combine all of those features into a single app and make it free, private, and simple to use.
“A year later, we launched,” Sullivan says.
The app is based on daily check-ins where users can reflect on how they’re feeling and why. It features a mood journal, habit tracker, a library of activities and resources on mental health topics, and a supportive community where they can share what’s on their mind.
To appeal to its young user base, the app is gamified to make it fun and engaging. Users can earn in-app currency and streaks to reward them for sticking with the app, and working on their wellbeing. They can also play with 15 different themes and change the colors and appearance of the interface to keep things fresh and seasonal.
The app is available for free to people of all ages in the United States and Canada in both in English and Spanish. It can be found on the App Store and Google Play, and at www.prosperselfcare.com.
The Winding Road to Entrepreneurship
Sullivan didn’t always work in mental health or app development, but his extensive experience and education provided him with the skills he needed to launch Uneo Health and create Prosper. He has more than 30 years of executive-level experience on the business side of healthcare, including in innovation, as well as an MBA and a Master of Science in Health Care Administration from UMGC.
He's enjoying this next chapter of his career and partnering closely with Alden on their joint venture, where they lean on each other’s strengths.
“It’s great working with my son,” he says. “He has a much better eye for design and user engagement. I [defer] to him on the app, and he [defers] to me on the business and growth side.”
A PROSPERous Future
Prosper has been an overwhelming success in the two years since its launch. In fact, 90.7 percent of teen users report experiencing a positive impact on their mental health from simply using the app.
While much of their growth so far has been driven by partnerships with school systems and mental health organizations to reach young people, Sullivan knows that’s not the only group that needs support. In 2024, they launched ProsperConnect to match clinicians and patients and in early 2025, the team launched another Prosper platform, ProsperWell, to provide wellness support to employees of small and midsize employers. The sky’s the limit as they work to serve even more people by partnering with healthcare clinics to serve their patients, too.
It's all worth it for Sullivan, who traded in a high-profile career for a high-impact startup.
“With a startup, sometimes there are as many lows as highs,” he admits. “What keeps me and my son motivated is when people reach out to us to say how much Prosper has helped them get better and get help. We know we are impacting real lives in real time.”
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Resources: Where to find mental health support
In addition to the Prosper app, friends, relatives and colleagues ask Sullivan for mental health resources. While he’s not a clinician, he points them to these trusted and respected organizations:
- For crises, call or text 9-8-8
- For resources like housing, transportation and food, text 2-1-1 or visit findhelp.org
For mental health/behavioral health support: