Skip to main content

Tessa Zimmerman

Connecticut, USA

After Tessa’s high school counselor told her she would never attend college because her anxiety was too severe, Tessa was determined to find a way to live with and through her anxiety. She developed the Asset model to help her overcome her own anxiety and support other youth also suffering from severe anxiety. Tessa proved her high school counselor wrong when she was the first to graduate from Watson’s degree track. During her three years at Watson, Tessa built Asset Education, which has now trained teachers from 11 Denver public schools and will shortly begin four school-wide implementations in Denver and Harlem. Asset has raised $132K from leading philanthropists and revenue from their partner schools. Tessa also recently published her first book about growing up with anxiety and tools to help young people thrive.

"With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose." - Wayne W. Dyer

650

Students have experienced the ASSET curriculum.

6

Schools have represented the ASSET model.

700

Panic attacks experienced.

Protect your courage

ASSET Education was started from Tessa’s personal struggles of growing up with severe anxiety and recognizing that the school system’s attempt to provide her with the support she needed didn’t work. She seeks to fill the gaps in education: schools desperately want to help their students and students have a great desire to succeed, yet there continues to be misalignment. The social/emotional curriculum of ASSET Education incorporates practices like mindfulness and positive psychology. Her long-term goal is to train teachers in the ASSET curriculum for them to then implement into their own classrooms. Tessa will be the first person to graduate from Watson University (in-partnership with Lynn University) in May 2016. She has been recognized as a thought-leader in the health and wellness industry and is featured in the book, ‘2 Billion Under 20: How Millennials Are Breaking Down Age Barriers And Changing The World’. Tessa’s own book, ‘Be Well. Dream Big. Panic Less.’, is set to be released in the fall of 2016 by Promoting Natural Health, LLC.