Jackee Schess is a lived experience advocate and mental health researcher from New York, USA. Jackee founded Generation Mental Health after reflecting on her field experiences and the many barriers to entry for young people wanting to make mental health impact. Jackee takes her passion for empowering youth with lived experience to her role setting strategy and implementing programs at Generation Mental Health. You can learn more about her lived experience journey here. 

She enjoys cooking, listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and hanging out with her dog Hudson.  Jackee's current research investigates the impact of labor policy on mental health and substance use outcomes. She received her BA in Economics and Certificate in Global Health Studies from Yale University and MA in Economics from Georgetown University. She is now a PhD student In Health Policy and Health Economics at UC Berkeley School of Public Health.

Jackee is always looking to learn about the efforts of youth to improve the mental health of their communities. Reach out any time! Contact Jackee here:

Lydia is based in the UK and after graduating university,  she decided to merge her interest in finance, with her passion for international development. She hopes to build a career in ESG assurance and reporting, recognising the deep connections between 'big business', the environment and human health and wellbeing around the world. Outside of work, Lydia enjoys running, cooking and walking her beloved dogs, Pickle, Cheddar and Bandit.

Lydia is passionate about GenMH's vision to create accessible opportunities for people of all backgrounds, and is keen to transfer the learnings from her own experiences, to the development of GenMH!

Sonali is a mental health researcher and aspiring clinician living in Mumbai, India. While still an undergraduate in 2013, Sonali experienced the difficulties of mental ill-health, stigma and loss while caring for a close loved one who was unwell. Her experience as a carer motivated her to seek a deeper understanding of the ways in which under-resourced communities respond to mental ill-health, and piqued her interest in global mental health research. Since then, Sonali has worked and volunteered in non-profit settings in the US and India on projects looking at addiction, suicide prevention, stigma, caregiver burden, psychosis and workplace mental health.

Sonali received her B.A. in Psychology and English from Barnard College in 2015 and MSc in Global Mental Health from King’s College London & LSHTM in 2020. She currently works as a Research Associate at the Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy in Pune, India.

As co-founder of GenMH, Sonali’s hope is to develop and run programs that empower people to help their communities through knowledge dissemination, advocacy and peer support. Most days, you can find her spending every free moment with her Shih Tzu, Peanut, or setting up in a coffee shop with a book!

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Constance Mabia is a passionate advocate for mental health, dedicated to fostering a world where mental health is treated with the same urgency as physical health. Her advocacy is deeply personal, rooted in her own lived experience, which has shaped her belief that mental health support should be accessible to all, free from stigma and discrimination.

Her work is driven by a commitment to challenging the barriers that prevent people from seeking help and advocating for mental health policies that reflect the needs of those affected. Constance is determined to contribute to a world where mental health care is inclusive, compassionate, and a priority for everyone

Saphira Munthali is a research manager for a large-scale, NIH-funded randomized controlled trial in Lusaka, Zambia examining implementation of a mental and behavioral health intervention for at-risk youth. She has excelled in this role and consistently exhibited outstanding skills as a health practitioner dedicated to advancing social support in different communities and globally. Saphira also has led a COVID-19 response to expand access to acute care during lockdown by leveraging telehealth and existing community supports. Saphira brings 12 years’ experience of implementing mental health interventions for young people to her role at Generation Mental Health

Zoe's public health career started when she spent time in Uganda proposing a new pharmaceutical drug tracking system for Mbarara Regional Hospital. In 2017, Zoe led efforts at Drum Major Institute creating programs concentrating on improving voting rights and mitigating senseless gun violence. In 2020, she joined the Columbia Global Mental Health team as a Policy and Research Associate focused on eating disorder policy. Zoe takes her passion for advocacy and legislative change to GenMH to empower youth and mental health advocates to fight for local, state and federal governmental change. She is dedicated to improving democratic rights through grassroots voting reform, and she is excited to take this to GenMH to do the same with mental health reform and advocacy. 

Zoe received her B.S. from New York University where she studied Global Public Health and Applied Psychology. She is currently a MPH Candidate in Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health studying the intersections of climate, food and health. She enjoys running and baking and can be contacted here at any time to talk about anything from your favorite dessert to mental health reforms. 

Michaella Baker recently graduated from Northwestern’s JD-MBA program to build her expertise as a mental health advocate – combining policy, innovation, and public health epidemiology. While at Northwestern, she focused her time on international human rights and spent her last semester as a CDC Public Health Law Program Fellow.

A graduate of Yale College and Yale School of Public Health, she began her career at Global Health Strategies, an NYC-based global health advocacy and policy firm. She takes pride in building the company’s mental health client portfolio externally, advocating for mental health benefits internally, and scoping out the best NYC lox bagel.

Hannah is a PhD student at the University of Texas Health Science Center whose research centers on lived experiences of psychological distress and psychosocial disability. Hannah primarily uses qualitative methodologies and community based participatory research approaches. She is a passionate mental health advocate and sees data as a critical tool for advocacy work.

Kunle Pelemo also known as K.P is a multi-talented nation- building and knowledge business strategist. He is the CEO of Kuntrol HQ Int’l Ltd. He is an advocate of mental health and suicide prevention in Nigeria and Africa at Large. Having worked in the oil and gas downstream sector of his country for close to a decade, he deemed it fit to quit the sector in order to champion his mental health and suicide prevention cause called Live And Not Die (LAND).  He is currently the chief mental health strategist of Mycarebuddy Limited; a foremost online mental health care service provider in Nigeria. Kunle is a Global Goodwill Ambassador (Humanitarian) in Nigeria  and also Ambassador for Cuenta Conmigo NGOs in Argentina.

Over the years, he has undergone series of courses in reputable institutions such as University of Glasgow, Philanthropy University and Mental Health Academy for the purpose of certification and knowledge acquisition in respect of his advocacy.

In March 2020, Kunle was nominated as 2020 Mental Health Champion by the World Dignity Project after his works have gained recognition by many organizations and individuals within and outside the shores of Africa. He has featured on many programmes on national TVs, radio stations, live casts, etc creating awareness and offering support for people.

Michael is currently a student in the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, with plans to go on to pursue a PhD in economics. Michael has over five years of experience as a financial professional, both working in merger’s and acquisitions in the insurance space and as a financial planning specialist in the games industry. Michael is excited to apply his experience in financial planning and organizational strategy in support of GenMH’s mission.

In his spare time Michael enjoys rock climbing, watching old movies, and taking his dog on long walks.

Francesca is a hard-working, passionate, and dedicated student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her major is psychology, and her minors are writing and community action and social change (CASC). Francesca has a strong and innate passion for psychology and hopes to have a career in clinical psychology. Her goal is to work in the research space and eventually work towards a Ph.D.

Esther currently works as a People Operations Professional and a Youth and Mental Health Advocate. She received her BSc in Psychology and Certificate in Global Mental Health from the University of Washington, She is also a Youth Mental Health First Aider, USA and a Member of the Australian & New Zealand Mental Health Association. She is an IREX Community Engagement Exchange Program Fellow and TheirWorld Global Youth Ambassador, a global network of young leaders who advocate for the rights and education of young people.

She is passionate about destigmatizing mental health in African communities, using education, storytelling and evidence-based research and programs as tools to equip young people with the resources they need to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

She loves consuming stories in all forms – books, movies, TV shows – and places.