Chevening Leadership and Influence Essay Example: Psychosocial support program coordinator

In 2021, as Lebanon's economic collapse deepened, I coordinated psychosocial support across four partner schools reaching roughly 1,200 students. Most referrals depended on teachers spotting visible crises, so quieter students went unsupported. The barrier was trust, not capacity: parents feared stigma, counsellors felt exposed, and students had no confidential route to help. I drafted a structured referral pathway, worked with our clinical supervisor to align it with safeguarding standards, and piloted it with eight school counsellors who marked up the form before sign-off. The harder work was with parents. Several openly objected, worried that naming mental health needs would mark their children. Instead of defending the program in principle, I ran a session with a counsellor walking through the confidentiality steps line by line. Five parents who had previously refused later agreed to let their children join group wellbeing activities. I also led two training sessions for focal points on early signs of distress, and the form I designed was used in 27 cases during the first term. After three months, all four schools logged the pathway as standard practice and our team documented it for the next academic year. A district supervisor asked me to brief two additional schools; one returned feedback that shortened the parent-consent step. I learned that influence here depends on making a process feel safe before asking anyone to trust it, and that pathways relying on one coordinator do not last. In the UK, I want to study implementation science and school mental health systems, and ask Chevening alumni in education policy to critique a draft referral toolkit. On return, I will propose it to Lebanon's MEHE school health unit for pilot adoption, tracking referrals and counsellor retention across one academic year before seeking wider district uptake.