Matthew Biel

Washington, District of Columbia

Dr. Matthew Biel directs an academic medical division engaged in clinical work, education, and research. The clinical program he built includes inpatient and outpatient clinical care, a training site, advocacy efforts, and community-based services focused on improving access to mental health care for underserved children in Washington, DC. They have created more than 30 partnerships with DC public charter schools to provide in-school mental health clinical services; collaborate with primary care clinics to integrate mental health care within pediatric centers; and designed and operate a telehealth consultation program to help pediatricians citywide address mental health concerns within the pediatric primary care setting. Biel also co-directs the Early Childhood Innovation Network, a cross-sector and multi-stakeholder effort to design and implement multi-generational strategies to enhance developmental outcomes for children in DC.

My Truth

Child mental health services are not meeting the needs of the children of this country. While we have made very significant strides in understanding the neuroscience of development, mental health, and mental illness in childhood and adolescence, and in designing interventions that can significantly reduce suffering and improve functioning, we have been failing in several critical areas. First, our models of care are very pathology-focused, with inadequate attention to factors and strategies that enhance emotional, behavioral and relational wellbeing and have the potential to prevent or mitigate the onset of mental health problems in children.

Stories featuring Matthew Biel

We are pleased to share Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s newest report – Reimagining Child Welfare and Realizing a Networked Approach to Family Well-Being. Tapping the expertise and experience of families, Ascend Fellows, and the Ascend Network, this report is the result of our effort that began in 2020 to interrogate the systems, practices, and policies that …

New Report: Reimagining Child Welfare Read More »

PublicationApril 10, 2023
Group of Ascend Fellows at Wind Cave National Park
My heart is filled with love and gratitude for the courageous community of leaders our Ascend at the Aspen Institute team works with everyday.  And I am simply delighted to share our Ascend at the Aspen Institute Impact & Inspiration Report. In this magazine-style 2022 Impact & Inspiration Report, you will meet just a few of those inspiring …

2022 Ascend Impact & Inspiration Report Read More »

PublicationFebruary 14, 2023
Mayor Muriel Bowser has officially proclaimed today, December 1st, 2021, as Two Generations, One Future Day in Washington, D.C.!
BlogDecember 1, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has made more evident than ever the need to transform policies, practice, and systems to build upon the inherent resilience of families – especially those with low incomes and from BIPOC communities. In 2018 – 677,529 children experienced maltreatment in the US. 51 percent of those children were Black, Indigenous, or children …

Investing in Futures Means Investing in Families: Announcing the Two-Generation Prenatal to Three Learning and Action Community Read More »

BlogDecember 9, 2020
Physical and mental health and well-being are core components of the two-generation approach that builds family well-being by intentionally and simultaneously working with children and the adults in their lives to move whole families toward educational success, economic security, and health and well-being. Childhood trauma, for instance, has lasting health and social consequences. Similarly, economic …

Transforming Child and Family Mental Health in Washington, DC Read More »

BlogJuly 22, 2020
Black Lives Matter. As a collective of leaders committed to advancing two-generation strategies to end multigenerational poverty, we believe that the only path to that outcome is through a reckoning with our past and present, and a fundamental shift in our institutions. This requires a new social contract to remedy the harms of White supremacy â€“a …

Undo A System of White Supremacy: The Call for a New Social Contract Read More »

BlogJune 29, 2020
As the hub for breakthrough ideas and collaborations that move children and their parents toward educational success and economic security, Ascend is intensifying its efforts in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic to highlight 2Gen solutions that Ascend Fellows and the Ascend Network have developed over the past decade to help families reach their potential. Ascend is examining how new solutions, …

WEBINAR: Stopping Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorders Where They Start: Prevention and Treatment in Adolescence Read More »

BlogMay 29, 2020
Kwame AnkuChairman and CEOBlack Star Fund Sacramento, CAMy Vision – The problem I am focusing on solving is breaking the economic disparity cycle afflicting people of the African diaspora. I call my bold vision 100X100. It is a vision of 100 Black investment managers who will each manage $100M innovation funds by 2025. I believe we …

2018 Ascend Fellow Action Plans Read More »

Ascend FellowshipJune 19, 2019
As state and federal lawmakers prepare for the year ahead, more than 350 practice and community leaders, policymakers, researchers, and philanthropists - including Ascend Fellows, Family Prosperity Innovators, and Ascend Network Partners - joined us at the 2019 Aspen Forum on Children and Families to harness this momentum for investing in the full potential of children and families, two generations at a time.
BlogMarch 13, 2019
We are so grateful to all of the people who offered so much wisdom over the course of our two days together for the Aspen Forum on Children and Families. From parents and neuroscientists to presidential appointees and social workers–it felt like they all pushed further into the complex and deeply worthwhile questions of how …

Great Quotes on Slaying Poverty Read More »

BlogFebruary 28, 2019
Share Our Strength
Last week, Ascend Managing Director, Marjorie Sims, had the privilege of moderating an Aspen Institute roundtable conversation with Billy Shore, founder and CEO of Share Our Strength. The conversation was part of a new initiative launched by Aspen Institute CEO, Dan Porterfield and co-led by Sims and Public Programs Vice President Jamie Miller focused on …

Supporting Social Impact in DC: A Conversation with Marjorie Sims and Billy Shore Read More »

BlogDecember 19, 2018
2018 Ascend Fellows
NEWS RELEASE Contact: Lindsay Broyhill Ascend at the Aspen Institute Tel: 202.721.5596 Lindsay.broyhill@aspeninstitute.org Prestigious Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship Announces 2018 Class of Leaders Diverse Leaders Selected for Their Groundbreaking Work Advancing Opportunity for Children and Families With Low Incomes Washington, DC, September 6, 2018 – The Aspen Institute announced today the 2018 class of Aspen …

Prestigious Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship Announces 2018 Class of Leaders Read More »

Press ReleasesSeptember 6, 2018

Convenings Featuring Matthew Biel

Date: April 11, 2023
Location: Washington, DC & Virtual
More people than ever before are aware and willing to share their experiences when it comes to mental health and well-being. At the same time, powerful innovations are emerging around the country to build on new insights from brain science and...
ConveningApril 11, 2023
Date: April 11, 2023
– April 12, 2023
Location: Virtual & In-Person in Washington, DC
Join us for our fourth Aspen Forum on Children and Families on Tuesday, April 11th and Wednesday, April 12th, 2023. Our 2023 theme is Taking Action for Family Prosperity. We will focus on solutions for policymakers, philanthropists, practitioners,...
ConveningApril 11, 2023
– April 12, 2023
Date: June 7, 2021
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
The past decade has seen remarkable progress and momentum in the modern day two-generation (2Gen) movement. 2Gen programs at the local, state, and federal level, well-informed by those most impacted and rooted in the community, are improving family...
ConveningJune 7, 2021