Acknowledge Alliance promotes lifelong resilience in children and youth, and strengthens the caring capacity of the adults who influence their lives.

Acknowledge Alliance envisions a world where youth feel more competent and cared about in schools and in their lives; educators feel more supported and enriched in their work with students and colleagues; and education settings create safe, compassionate and nurturing environments where everyone there feels cared for, competent and resilient.


Since 1994, Acknowledge Alliance (formerly the Cleo Eulau Center) has been building thriving school communities where students are equipped with lifelong resilience and teachers are empowered to be their best selves. Acknowledge Alliance was founded on the belief that when a child has a caring adult in their life who believes in them and their abilities, they can succeed despite adversities. By serving K-8 schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, we cultivate these transformative relationships at all levels of learning through on-site support of teachers and administrators, resilience support groups, Project Resilience social emotional learning lessons, student counseling, and district-level professional development.

Educators and students alike are facing an increasingly challenging educational environment. Whether they are dealing with the pressure around test scores, academic performance, or social and peer dynamics, it is no wonder that many teachers and youth are left feeling frustrated, alienated and lost.

Evidence shows that the adult-student relationship is the most powerful variable for learning and success. Teachers are the most important influence in these young peoples’ lives, next to immediate family. It only takes one teacher or caring adult to change a student’s life for the better. Research has shown that teachers perform best after being in the classroom for at least five years, but 46% of teachers leave the profession before reaching this milestone. Burn out, poor working conditions and emotional stress consistently rank as primary reasons teachers leave the profession. As a result, school and districts nationwide spend $2.2 billion per year recruiting and training replacements.

When teachers are struggling with their own mental health, it can be difficult for them to support the emotional well-being of their students. Unfortunately, when a student’s social emotional well-being is not addressed, they are not able to open their minds to learning. Students represent a broad diversity of backgrounds, experiences and learning styles - many factors outside of the classroom impact their engagement and behaviors. Across the nation, over 20% of young people experience a mental health condition, with that rate increasing up to 60% amongst youth in the juvenile justice system. We are seeing the consequences of a national mental health crisis, with 70% of students who need services unable to access them.

At Acknowledge Alliance, we provide the support and resources that educators and youth need to thrive in the classroom and beyond.

In our work in helping to create healthy schools, we recognize our responsibility to establish inclusive and equitable policies and practices for the agency.

Our commitment to Diversity Equity Inclusion Justice (DEIJ) is crucial to our ability to partner and provide access to our schools to face some of the biggest challenges. We will work to ensure that you see our commitment to anti-racist action and to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in everything we do. We commit to developing, advocating for, and speaking out about this vision and sharing data on our progress as openly as possible.

Acknowledge Alliance was founded in 1994 as The Cleo Eulau Center to help children rebound from adversity by nurturing their individual strengths and resilience.

Cleo Eulau was a distinguished clinical social worker whose celebrated career spanned decades of service in the mental health field. She was the first woman and first non-psychiatrist to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the department of psychiatry at Stanford University as well as the recipient of numerous other awards and recognitions. She also served as an inspiration, mentor and role model to countless mental health professionals.

The Cleo Eulau Center was established by a dynamic group of Cleo’s colleagues and former students to honor her lifelong commitment to support at-risk youth in achieving productive and happy lives. At the heart of the agency was to acknowledge that every child has the ability to succeed and thrive and that everyday interactions between adults and kids are central to the positive development of each child.

Today, Acknowledge Alliance strives to further Cleo’s dedication to excellence through our innovative programs and highly qualified staff and board with expertise in the fields of mental health, education and program management. We serve K-8 public and private schools in the Greater Bay Area and Silicon Valley, but our learnings can apply to school communities nationwide.

Acknowledge Alliance is honored to continue Cleo’s legacy, and we are committed to uphold the ideals that she embodied. She will forever be the heart of the agency and the enduring inspiration for our work.