During Mackenzie Drazan’s freshman year of collage, tragedy struck as her sister took her own life after years of struggling with depression. Instead of letting this break her down, like a horrendous situation like this would do to anyone, she saw a light at the end of this dark tunnel. Drazan had to ask herself, even though her and her family took her to many clinics and doctors, how was it that this was still the unfortunate outcome? She found that the current system for mental health and health care was failing where it should be efficient to prevent situations like this. She dedicated her life to working toward a solution.

Drazan found that there was a disconnect between physical health care and mental health care referrals. Her and her cofounder Gabriela Asturias, who she met in her dorm at Duke University, founded their version of a solution in 2017 that they named MiResource. MiResource is a service that helps find the right mental healthcare for patients and their individual needs. Their goal was to bring effective mental health care in an easy to access space. Drazan’s service takes the confusion and complication out of finding the right care in order to not only simplify the process but to also be the most efficient solution for someone who is struggling.

MiResource recently raised $3 million from investors including big companies in the health care field like Blue Cross and Blue Shield. They also recently received a $1.2 million NIH grant. Drazan is also starting to work with insurance companies in order to connect patients with in-network care in the future.