What We're About
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Our mission is to build a healthier world by pursuing mental wellness through an intersectional lens
This allows us to build capacity for local action and global collaboration that centers mental health while staying relevant to other important global challenges areas such as; environment, economy & equity, identity justice, education and peace-building.
Our goal is to work ourselves out of the job
You read that right. We're not here to employ ourselves, we know hundreds if-not thousand of brilliant, community-based partners who can do the work better than we can. We're here in the short-term to build the capacity of local partners while strengthening global relationships so that years down the road, we aren't needed anymore.
We work in agile, responsive & intentional ways
The world is complex & ever-changing, so our programming does as well. While we use the same key frameworks across all our work, each program is uniquely designed to the current cultural, socio-economic & environmental climate. Our focus is always the future, we ask, "what can work better?" instead of repeating what we've already done.
Our team believes that culture comes first
We work with communities around the world who are striving to bring change involving mental health, putting culture first. We do not believe in efficacy of "culturally agnostic programming". Rather, using a strengths-based approach, we collaborate with communities to build from the greatness in their people and wisdom in their culture. Throughout our process we innovate and iterate. Creativity and humility are present in every part of our work, we ask "what box?" and learn from our missteps.
Social justice is our core, and it's non-negotiable
We know a healthier world is only possible through pursuing social justice. Our vision is a world that cares for the mental health of us all. Sounds great, but we’re far from realizing that, which means system disruption. We pay close attention to the intersections between mental health and social justice issues, working to find multi-impact solutions that are transformative. This isn't an equitable world, so we’ll be working towards that until it is. We take social responsibility seriously and know that mental health interacts not only with the mind, but with the body, the family, the environment and the system.
How We Got Together
IMHA began with a single project in Bangladesh and has grown into a global non-profit over the the past 18 months.
Our co-founders Liz & Sarah are creative mental health clinicians who have worked internationally and have a passion for people-centered work. Daniel joined early on as well, bringing his commitment to working within the African Diaspora, and we've continued to grow.
Currently, we have team members based in Bangladesh, Canada, Kenya, and the United States. Our Advisors are based in Canada. We're honored to partner with incredible organizations from Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, the United States and Zimbabwe.
After years of waiting, our team has finally begun to gather in person. Liz & Sarah met early in 2022 for planning and Biko, Daniel, Dorcas & Onyango met this summer in Kenya to do on-ground work.
Most of our operations remain remote, and most of our field activities happen on-ground. If you'd like to meet our team in-person, you can do so in Boston, Mbarara, Nairobi, Paris, San Francisco, St. Louis, Toronto or on the road/in the field. Reach out to team@imha.ngo to set up an in-person meeting and learn more about how we can work together.
(a typical team meeting, pictured right)
