Our Story

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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 both creative mental health clinicians who have worked internationally and have a passion for people-centered work. Damian and Daniel joined early on as well, bringing their commitment to working with youth and the African Diaspora, and we've continued to grow from there.

Currently, we have team members based in Bangladesh, Canada, Kenya, Switzerland and the United States. Our Advisors are based in Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan. We're honored to partner with incredible organizations from Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, the United States and Zimbabwe.

Our team has never met in person. With the exception of two team members in Kenya and two in California, the team remains solely connected virtually. The COVID-19 pandemic has limited our ability to travel safely, so we've chosen to see this an opportunity to stretch the boundaries of what is possible online. 

Is it really possible to form a team and build an entire non-profit organization without meeting face to face? Our answer is, yes.

(a typical team meeting, pictured right)

At IMHA (we say eem-ha), we are unified behind the belief that 

mental health matters. 

Our mission is to build a healthier world through collaborative innovation. As a team, we work with communities around the world who are striving to bring change involving mental health. At IMHA, culture comes first. 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 think outside-the-box and learn from our missteps. 

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. At IMHA, we take social responsibility seriously. Mental health interacts not only with the mind, but with the body, the family, the environment and the system. 

We strive to do-no-harm, stay ethical and grow in health. We're about progress, not perfection. We strive to break away from "professionalism" and all other pieces of socialized white supremacy. In all our work, we keep the future in-mind, working to build a better world for future generations and recognizing Earth as our greatest partner. We want the work we do to create meaningful impact over time, which means change and growth. It’s not a win if our projects sustain themselves forever - in our ideal world, the communities we’ve worked with will move beyond our programming and continue onwards and upwards without us. The happiest day at IMHA will be when we’ve worked ourselves out of a job.