Youth Advisors
Puspita Alwi
Co-Founder & Executive DirectorSehat Jiwa, Indonesia
Puspita has a Bachelor of Psychology from the University of Indonesia and is pursuing her master’s in mental health community & disability. Puspita has worked with IOM Indonesia, the Integrated Services Center for Women and Children, DKI Jakarta, and the Division of Applied Social Psychology Research. In 2018, she co-founded Sehat Jiwa Bahagia, a social […]
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Sweetbert M. Anselimus
Executive DirectorPsychosocial Welfare Organization (PWO), Tanzania
Sweetbert is a 26 years old Tanzanian youth, the Executive Director (ED) of Tanzania’s Psychosocial Welfare Organization (PWO), and Assistant Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). He founded and has been ED at PWO since 2019. As ED, he leads the team and oversees projects that address the mental challenges of youths […]
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Jihad Bnimoussa
FounderInspireCorp, Morocco
Jihad is a Moroccan American Psychologist and founder of InspireCorp, a mental health social enterprise in the MENA region specializing in building high-impact mental health prevention programs using a resilience approach. Her work reaches thousands of teachers, social workers, and 8 million youth in Morocco. She is a Stanford AMENDS Fellow and an Atlantic Dialogues […]
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Aishwarya Sai Lakshmi
Youth CoordinatorcitiesRISE, India
Aishwarya is a youth leader based out of Chennai who has a master’s in psychiatric social work and is pursuing a master’s in counselling psychology from the University of Madras. She is a physicist turned psychiatric social worker purely out of a passion for mental health who dreams of living in a world where mental […]
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Oriana Ortiz
Opportunity ActivatorYMCA Latin America and Caribbean, Mexico
Oriana was born in 1999 in Mexico. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations. Currently, and is studying for a Master’s Degree in Governance and Globalization, focusing on global governance. Since 2021, Oriana has worked as an Opportunity Activator in the Latin American and Caribbean YMCA (YMCA LAC) Regional Office, where she collaborates in […]
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Jackee (Jaclyn) Schess
CEO and FounderGeneration Mental Health Association, USA
Jackee Schess is a lived experience advocate and mental health researcher from New York, USA. Jackee is the Founder and CEO of Generation Mental Health, a youth-led non-profit empowering young people with lived experience of mental ill-health to be mental health advocates, researchers, and innovators. She recently completed an MA in Economics and will begin […]
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Viet Trinh
Program DirectorLighthouse Social Enterprise, Vietnam
Viet Trinh (he/him/his) is a distinguished young advocate and researcher focusing on LGBTIQ+ mental health and sexual health in the Asia Pacific region. He serves as Program Director at Lighthouse Social Enterprise, a leading civil-led society organization in LGBTIQ+ rights and health in Vietnam. His work adopts a person-centred approach, encompassing community engagement and outreach, […]
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Sankhulani Daka
CEO and Co-FounderLet’s Talk Mental Health (LTMH), Zambia
Sankhulani Daka is the CEO and Co-Founder of Let’s Talk Mental Health (LTMH). His passion for mental health stems from his past struggles with mental health. From being bullied and experiencing anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. As someone who understands the effects of mental illness, he hopes to bring healing to people who have been […]
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Cecilia Fofo
Program AssistantBasic Needs Ghana, Ghana
Cecilia Fofo hasy with lived experience of bipolar affective disorder and a mental health advocate trained in early childhood development. She began her mental health advocacy career in 2018, a year after she was diagnosed with a mental health condition. BasicNeedsGhana is a non-governmental organization focusing on mental health and development, aiming to improve the […]
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Manasi Gupta
Founder and Executive DirectorHuesofthemind Foundation, India
Manasi Gupta is a social entrepreneur and an engineer by profession. She is the founder of Huesofthemind Foundation, a UN SDSN member nonprofit organization to provide mental health services and has impacted 50,000+ beneficiaries with its initiatives. She is a mental health advocate and wants to make mental health resources more accessible, affordable, and available. […]
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Issa Kamara
ChairmanHagancatwright Organization, Sierra Leone
Issa Kamara is a youth activist and democracy ambassador. He is the chairman of Hagancatwright organization and has served in that capacity for more than eight years. Hagancatwright organization raises awareness about mental health and illicit drugs like Kush in Sierra Leone. The organization works with youth living in slums who engage in high-risk substance […]
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Venant Mligo
Co-Founder and ChairpersonMental Health Initiative and Youth Innovation Forum, Tanzania
Venant Mligo is co-founder and chairperson of the Mental Health Initiative and Youth Innovation Forum in Tanzania. This community-based civil organization promotes mental health and innovation among youth. He has also been a staff member at Mzumbe University in the Student’s Welfare Services Department for 12 years. Venant collaborates with Foundation for a Drug-Free World, […]
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Anindya Shabrina
Supervisory BoardResister Indonesia, Indonesia
Anindya Shabrina is a lawyer and human rights defender who combines strong writing and public campaigning skills to create campaigns and advocate for litigation and non-litigation in human rights cases that compel people to act. RESISTER INDONESIA represents several groups of marginalized people (women, LGBTQ+ people, and minorities) who face mental health issues and struggle […]
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Fizza Yasmeen
Founder and CEOShining Star Vocational Training Institute, Pakistan
Dr. Yasmeen is the Founder and CEO of Shining Star Vocational Training Institute for vulnerable women of marginalized communities aiming to use skill training to prevent psychosocial disabilities. Previously, she was also CEO of Basic Needs Pakistan, which mobilized 300,000 people for mental well-being through a women’s economic empowerment project for women with psychosocial disabilities. […]
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