Why the Institute exists

The Institute is being established to advance open, independent, and honest research in mental-health technology. The intent is to build public-good tools and evidence that no single company should own, and to widen access to mental-health resources for people who cannot pay.

The through-line is simple. Some of this work belongs to the field, not to a vendor. Building it in the open is how it earns trust.

A company can build a good product. What it cannot do is credibly grade its own clinical homework. The evidence about whether a mental-health tool is honest, safe, and fair carries far more weight when the people producing it are not the people selling the product.

The open model, the independent evidence, and the public resources should outlast any one company and belong to the field. That is the gap the Institute is being formed to fill.

The Institute was incorporated in Arkansas on July 6, 2026 and is not yet federally tax-exempt; a 501(c)(3) determination will be sought. It holds no funds and solicits none. It is being stood up in stages, and it distinguishes intended work from present operations.

Independence is not a slogan here, it is a structure. For how that structure is designed, and how the Institute stays independent of Kensora the company, see Governance →

I am Josh Born. I have spent about a decade building medical and consumer technology, with a background in mechanical engineering at MIT and Stanford.

I live with bipolar disorder, which is why I care about getting the honest parts of this field right, and about not asking anyone to simply trust a company on the things that matter most.

Kensora the company can build a good product. The open model, the independent evidence, and the public resources are the parts that should belong to the field, and the Institute is how I am trying to make sure they do.

Josh Born, founder