Philanthropists make $2 million gift toward a future of improved mental health
Julie and Jason Borrelli, both second-generation Penn State graduates and current members of the Campaign Leadership Council, are providing resources to launch a pioneering initiative
Julie and Jason Borelli
Jason and Julie Borrelli, current members of the Campaign Leadership Council, have come forward with a gift to create the Learn to Flourish Design Hub. Credit: Penn State. All Rights Reserved.
November 17, 2025
Inspired by the chance to galvanize cutting-edge research and programming, longtime volunteers and philanthropists Julie and Jason Borrelli have come forward with a $2 million gift to launch a new initiative to promote collegiate mental health. The act of generosity by the Borrellis, who serve on the Campaign Leadership Council, sets an example of leadership in the campaign and advances a key priority by supporting student flourishing.
“Julie and Jason are not only tireless advocates for strengthening the University but also visionary leaders shaping solutions to the challenges students face today and tomorrow,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “I am profoundly grateful for their generosity and their shared belief that student well-being and mental health support must remain a priority. This extraordinary gift will strengthen Penn State’s ability to bring together scholars and practitioners, spark new research and create programs and partnerships that advance mental health support across our community.”
The Borrellis’ gift, designated as $300,000 in spend-down funds to cover the costs of launching the initiative and $1.7 million to establish a permanent endowment, will create the Learn to Flourish Design Hub, a dedicated, on-site research and learning space housed within the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center of the College of Health and Human Development. The initiative is unlike any other at Penn State in that it will facilitate collaboration between faculty experts and engaged students as they work together to co-design, test and disseminate interventions meant to prevent adverse mental health outcomes and promote flourishing among college students.
Jason and I are passionate about this cause because mental health struggles touch so many families, including our own.
Julie Borrelli, Penn State graduate, volunteer and member of the Campaign Leadership Council
“Jason and I are passionate about this cause because mental health struggles touch so many families, including our own,” said Julie Borrelli. “There’s no cure-all, but we know we need to wipe away the stigma and center the voices of young people so we can understand what’s really going wrong and what kind of help can be most effective.”
The idea for the Learn to Flourish Design Hub has its origins in a 2017 course called “The Art and Science of Human Flourishing,” which focused on leveraging mindfulness and compassion skills to effect personal and social transformation. The hub will expand this work by using participatory action research, which is a model through which students and faculty co-design interventions and the research studies that refine those interventions. These efforts will create a pipeline to develop a wide array of resources to promote positive mental health and well-being in young adults. In addition, the Design Hub will proactively collaborate with faculty from across the University who bring varied disciplinary expertise to the challenge of co-designing effective preventive measures.
“Young adults on our campuses and in our communities continue to face significant pressures impacting their mental health and emotional well-being that in turn can have lasting effects on their college experience, their transition to the workforce and their life beyond,” said Craig J. Newschaffer, the Raymond E. and Erin Stuart Schultz Dean of the College of Health and Human Development. “Our college has been working in this area for decades, but now, because of Julie and Jason’s generosity, we will be able to bring this novel co-design model to bear on student mental health challenges in a way that captures a wide range of Penn State expertise. I believe we will see true innovations emerge that have real potential to vastly improve lives.”
Julie and Jason Borrelli are both 1994 graduates and second-generation Penn Staters. Jason earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the College of Engineering and Julie in hotel, restaurant and institutional management in the College of Health and Human Development. After brief careers with Allied Signal and Marriott, they joined National Properties Inc., a real-estate investment, property management and development business co-founded by Jeff King, Julie’s father and a 1967 Penn State graduate with a degree in marketing.
In 2006, Jason earned an MBA from Penn State Great Valley, with a focus in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial studies. Today he is senior principal for operations of EQT Exeter, a real estate investment manager. Julie now serves as chairperson of the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center Director’s Leadership Council, among a variety of other volunteer pursuits. The couple have two children — Drew, a 2025 Smeal graduate who studied marketing, and Sophie, a fourth-year biology/pre-med student at the University of Florida.
The couple has a long history of distinguished service to the University. They endowed the Jason and Julie Borrelli Faculty Chair in Real Estate in 2019 with the goal of helping Smeal attract and retain faculty that contribute to the reputation and prestige of the program. In 2021, their $5 million commitment named the Jason and Julie Borrelli Institute for Real Estate Studies, building upon their past support for real estate education and helping to re-establish real estate as a major in the Penn State Smeal College of Business. The couple has also endowed the Jason and Julie Borrelli Trustee Scholarship and the Borrelli Family Open Doors Scholarship in the Penn State Smeal College of Business, the Jason and Julie Borrelli Open Doors Scholarship in the College of Engineering, the Jason and Julie Borrelli UPUA Leader Scholarship and the Borrelli Educational Equity Scholarship.
In 2024, Penn State named the Borrellis as its Philanthropists of the Year. The couple says their support for Penn State follows in the footsteps of Julie’s parents, Cindy and Jeff King, who were also longtime philanthropic and volunteer leaders, and they look forward to inspiring others to get involved.
“Our hope is that others will see and value the impact of the hub, so that this gift might be a catalyst for others to direct their own support to expanding the scope and depth of its work,” said Julie.
For now, the Borrellis are focused on how the hub can encourage students to see mental health interventions as something they feel empowered to design and tailor for their own use. It’s a goal shared by Blake Colaianne, an assistant research professor who will become the hub’s inaugural director.
“Intervention strategies too often focus on downstream matters of stress and anxiety instead of actively promoting flourishing and belonging,” said Colaianne. “Our aim is to center students’ voices and incorporate their perspectives and ideas from the development phase all the way through implementation, shifting the emphasis from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. It’s a genuinely innovative approach that I believe will revolutionize how we tackle these challenges.”
The hub’s work will be facilitated through a dedicated project manager and multiple interdisciplinary student teams. The first wave of projects will begin in spring 2026.
Jason Borrelli said he and Julie are eager to see how the hub evolves as its research unfolds.
“What is exciting to us is that the Design Hub will be driven by evidence-based science even as its intervention strategies incorporate new insights from a rising generation of students, who will also get hands-on experience in conducting research,” he said. “When we added up all these factors, we realized almost immediately that this was the initiative we wanted to set in motion.”
Alumni and friends interested in making a gift to strengthen the Learn to Flourish Design Hub can visit its dedicated giving page.
Donors like Julie and Jason Borrelli advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.
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Philanthropists make $2 million gift toward a future of improved mental health
Julie and Jason Borrelli, both second-generation Penn State graduates and current members of the Campaign Leadership Council, are providing resources to launch a pioneering initiative
Julie and Jason Borelli
Jason and Julie Borrelli, current members of the Campaign Leadership Council, have come forward with a gift to create the Learn to Flourish Design Hub. Credit: Penn State. All Rights Reserved.
November 17, 2025
Inspired by the chance to galvanize cutting-edge research and programming, longtime volunteers and philanthropists Julie and Jason Borrelli have come forward with a $2 million gift to launch a new initiative to promote collegiate mental health. The act of generosity by the Borrellis, who serve on the Campaign Leadership Council, sets an example of leadership in the campaign and advances a key priority by supporting student flourishing.
“Julie and Jason are not only tireless advocates for strengthening the University but also visionary leaders shaping solutions to the challenges students face today and tomorrow,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “I am profoundly grateful for their generosity and their shared belief that student well-being and mental health support must remain a priority. This extraordinary gift will strengthen Penn State’s ability to bring together scholars and practitioners, spark new research and create programs and partnerships that advance mental health support across our community.”
The Borrellis’ gift, designated as $300,000 in spend-down funds to cover the costs of launching the initiative and $1.7 million to establish a permanent endowment, will create the Learn to Flourish Design Hub, a dedicated, on-site research and learning space housed within the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center of the College of Health and Human Development. The initiative is unlike any other at Penn State in that it will facilitate collaboration between faculty experts and engaged students as they work together to co-design, test and disseminate interventions meant to prevent adverse mental health outcomes and promote flourishing among college students.
Jason and I are passionate about this cause because mental health struggles touch so many families, including our own.
Julie Borrelli, Penn State graduate, volunteer and member of the Campaign Leadership Council
“Jason and I are passionate about this cause because mental health struggles touch so many families, including our own,” said Julie Borrelli. “There’s no cure-all, but we know we need to wipe away the stigma and center the voices of young people so we can understand what’s really going wrong and what kind of help can be most effective.”
The idea for the Learn to Flourish Design Hub has its origins in a 2017 course called “The Art and Science of Human Flourishing,” which focused on leveraging mindfulness and compassion skills to effect personal and social transformation. The hub will expand this work by using participatory action research, which is a model through which students and faculty co-design interventions and the research studies that refine those interventions. These efforts will create a pipeline to develop a wide array of resources to promote positive mental health and well-being in young adults. In addition, the Design Hub will proactively collaborate with faculty from across the University who bring varied disciplinary expertise to the challenge of co-designing effective preventive measures.
“Young adults on our campuses and in our communities continue to face significant pressures impacting their mental health and emotional well-being that in turn can have lasting effects on their college experience, their transition to the workforce and their life beyond,” said Craig J. Newschaffer, the Raymond E. and Erin Stuart Schultz Dean of the College of Health and Human Development. “Our college has been working in this area for decades, but now, because of Julie and Jason’s generosity, we will be able to bring this novel co-design model to bear on student mental health challenges in a way that captures a wide range of Penn State expertise. I believe we will see true innovations emerge that have real potential to vastly improve lives.”
Julie and Jason Borrelli are both 1994 graduates and second-generation Penn Staters. Jason earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the College of Engineering and Julie in hotel, restaurant and institutional management in the College of Health and Human Development. After brief careers with Allied Signal and Marriott, they joined National Properties Inc., a real-estate investment, property management and development business co-founded by Jeff King, Julie’s father and a 1967 Penn State graduate with a degree in marketing.
In 2006, Jason earned an MBA from Penn State Great Valley, with a focus in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial studies. Today he is senior principal for operations of EQT Exeter, a real estate investment manager. Julie now serves as chairperson of the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center Director’s Leadership Council, among a variety of other volunteer pursuits. The couple have two children — Drew, a 2025 Smeal graduate who studied marketing, and Sophie, a fourth-year biology/pre-med student at the University of Florida.
The couple has a long history of distinguished service to the University. They endowed the Jason and Julie Borrelli Faculty Chair in Real Estate in 2019 with the goal of helping Smeal attract and retain faculty that contribute to the reputation and prestige of the program. In 2021, their $5 million commitment named the Jason and Julie Borrelli Institute for Real Estate Studies, building upon their past support for real estate education and helping to re-establish real estate as a major in the Penn State Smeal College of Business. The couple has also endowed the Jason and Julie Borrelli Trustee Scholarship and the Borrelli Family Open Doors Scholarship in the Penn State Smeal College of Business, the Jason and Julie Borrelli Open Doors Scholarship in the College of Engineering, the Jason and Julie Borrelli UPUA Leader Scholarship and the Borrelli Educational Equity Scholarship.
In 2024, Penn State named the Borrellis as its Philanthropists of the Year. The couple says their support for Penn State follows in the footsteps of Julie’s parents, Cindy and Jeff King, who were also longtime philanthropic and volunteer leaders, and they look forward to inspiring others to get involved.
“Our hope is that others will see and value the impact of the hub, so that this gift might be a catalyst for others to direct their own support to expanding the scope and depth of its work,” said Julie.
For now, the Borrellis are focused on how the hub can encourage students to see mental health interventions as something they feel empowered to design and tailor for their own use. It’s a goal shared by Blake Colaianne, an assistant research professor who will become the hub’s inaugural director.
“Intervention strategies too often focus on downstream matters of stress and anxiety instead of actively promoting flourishing and belonging,” said Colaianne. “Our aim is to center students’ voices and incorporate their perspectives and ideas from the development phase all the way through implementation, shifting the emphasis from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. It’s a genuinely innovative approach that I believe will revolutionize how we tackle these challenges.”
The hub’s work will be facilitated through a dedicated project manager and multiple interdisciplinary student teams. The first wave of projects will begin in spring 2026.
Jason Borrelli said he and Julie are eager to see how the hub evolves as its research unfolds.
“What is exciting to us is that the Design Hub will be driven by evidence-based science even as its intervention strategies incorporate new insights from a rising generation of students, who will also get hands-on experience in conducting research,” he said. “When we added up all these factors, we realized almost immediately that this was the initiative we wanted to set in motion.”
Alumni and friends interested in making a gift to strengthen the Learn to Flourish Design Hub can visit its dedicated giving page.
Donors like Julie and Jason Borrelli advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.
