Photo credit: Johannes Kroemer

Julie Scelfo is Founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA), a grassroots movement of parents fighting back against media addiction and creating a world in which real-life experiences and interactions remain at the heart of a healthy childhood.

She is an award-winning journalist, a former New York Times staff writer, a media ecologist, and a parent.

Scelfo was moved to start MAMA after reporting on the youth mental health crisis and seeing suicidality affect children at ever-younger ages, and recognizing how a multitude of factors—including screen addiction and absent regulations—has created an unhealthy, unsafe media environment.

Scelfo’s stories on mental health have been leading the national conversation for decades, from her coverage of suicidality and social media on college campuses, to increasing suicidality among tweens. She created the Get Media Savvy coalition to help create a widespread cultural shift so everyone recognizes the central role of media in human affairs and takes steps to protect the building blocks of well-being.

In addition to her MAMA  advocacy, Scelfo is the author of The Women Who Made New York, (Seal Press/Hachette), an inclusive collection of biographies revealing how it was women—and not just men—who built one of the world’s greatest cities. She is a frequent public speaker who has made numerous appearances on television, radio and podcasts, and invites you to join her coalition at JoinMAMA.org.