For David Galvan, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is more than a training program. It is a calling, a community-building tool and a practical way to help more people access what he calls “help, healing and hope.”
Galvan, who is based in Colorado, is a certified Adult, Youth and Teen MHFA Instructor. His work has reached schools, faith communities, youth-serving organizations and workplaces across the state and beyond.
Since becoming an Instructor in 2018, Galvan’s impact has been enormous. He has trained more than 3,300 people in MHFA, equipping them with the skills to recognize and respond to the signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges.
He was twice recognized for teaching the most First Aiders in Colorado and named Colorado’s MHFA Instructor of the Year in 2023. He is also responsible for the most First Aiders taught in an in-person course and the most Teen First Aiders in 2025, both nationally. In April 2026, Galvan was awarded the Teen MHFA Instructor of the Year Award at the MHFA Summit in Denver.
But ask Galvan what those numbers mean, and he focuses on the people, not the awards.
“These are real lives. They’re not numbers. They’re humans that were probably impacted by mental illnesses and challenges or lost someone to suicide or been impacted by suicide attempts in some way. Every person should have access to help, healing and hope. That’s it.”
— David Galvan
David Galvan’s Journey to MHFA
Galvan describes his path to MHFA as something he entered “accidentally on purpose.”
It began in Colorado Springs in 2016, when ten students died by suicide in a two-week period. In response, Galvan joined the Youth Suicide Prevention Workgroup of El Paso County, soon becoming chair of its faith-based subgroup in 2017. As leaders discussed how to respond to the needs of young people and the adults who support them, one recommendation kept appearing: Youth MHFA.
“We had to propose an action plan,” Galvan said. “I said, well, why don’t we just train every youth pastor and youth leader in Youth Mental Health First Aid?”
At the time, Galvan knew of only one MHFA Instructor in the area, so he decided to become an Instructor himself. After completing Instructor training in August 2018, he quickly began bringing Youth MHFA to the community.
Within 18 months, Galvan had helped train nearly 750 people in his community, primarily through faith-based networks. And it was just the beginning.
“Mental Health First Aid was just transformational to my own life, and not just as a program. I changed my entire life and where I was going with it, and Mental Health First Aid played a part in that,” he said. “I quit all my jobs to do this. I get paid to do Mental Health First Aid trainings. Sometimes I don’t get paid at all, but I figure out the funding because I believe people should have the information.”
Expanding Mental Health Training Across Communities
While his first focus was Youth MHFA, Galvan has since expanded to include Adult and Teen MHFA.
Faith communities remain a key focus for Galvan because, as he explains, they are already places where people gather, seek support and build relationships — and include people from many backgrounds and life experiences.
Bringing MHFA to faith communities means pairing compassion with practical resources, Galvan said. While spiritual care and emotional support are meaningful and important, he said, they shouldn’t replace the actual care people need when experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge.
He often compares it to responding to a physical injury: If someone were bleeding or badly hurt, a community would not rely on encouragement alone. They would seek immediate help and connect the person to appropriate care. It’s the same thing for mental health.
Building Trust Through Relationships
Galvan is an independent MHFA Instructor — he isn’t housed within a large organization that automatically directs participants his way. Instead, he grows his impact by building strong partnerships and trust.
“Mental Health First Aid isn’t just a program. It’s relationships.”
— David Galvan
His approach is all about listening. What does the organization need? What challenges are they trying to address? Who needs to be equipped first? What would be most useful for staff, students, parents or community members?
Recently, Galvan spoke with an assistant principal whose school had lost three students to suicide in three years. The school wanted to train its staff and had already explored several options before talking to Galvan. He listened and helped the school identify a plan to fit its needs. Within an hour, the entire staff was scheduled to take Youth MHFA.
Galvan relies on three elements for successful partnerships: relationship, time and quality. Relationships create trust. Time allows partnerships to grow. Quality ensures participants walk away with a meaningful experience and confidence in the training.
He takes quality seriously.
“I just build relationships, and then I ensure quality,” he said. “I’m going to give them the best. I take pride in the work that I do.”
Galvan studies public speaking, paying attention to how comedians and storytellers engage audiences. Of course, the content matters, he said. But the Instructor must bring the content to life:
“Comedians deliver stories in a way that hit punchlines like nobody else does. They’re telling us a story. Mental Health First Aid is just a story,” he said.
Advice for Instructors: Practice, Mentorship and Remembering Your Why
“Repetition, repetition, repetition” — that’s Galvan’s advice for other Instructors. Teach as often as you can, observe other Instructors and engage with them. The more familiar Instructors become with the material, the more confidently and authentically they’ll be able to deliver MHFA — and better tell the story.
He also encourages Instructors to seek mentorship and community. Experienced Instructors can help newer Instructors navigate teaching challenges and classroom dynamics. More importantly, they can provide support after difficult days.
The final piece of advice is to remember why you started.
After each training, Galvan takes a picture of the classroom and sends it to his sister.
“26 more people know,” he’ll write, or “15 more people know.”
His sister — like so many others — lives with mental health challenges and has attempted suicide.
Each class represents more people who can recognize signs, offer support, reduce stigma and connect someone to appropriate help. Each training expands the circle of people who are prepared to respond.
It’s called the ripple effect. In 2018, Galvan created a ripple by becoming a MHFA Instructor. That ripple has grown into a wave: more than 3,300 people are equipped with life-changing skills because of his teaching.
“You always have to remember what caused you to get into this,” Galvan said. “What’s that passion? When we lose that, it just becomes a job. This is not a job to me. This is a calling.”
