Simply put, mental health is health. But for women and girls – especially from marginalized communities – this is an aspect of human health that continues to be underfunded and undervalued. On the occasion of this year’s World Mental Health Day on October 10th, Kate Spade New York Social Impact Council She is raising awareness of the importance between women’s empowerment and mental health – two issues that were once seen as separate, but are in fact very interconnected. The Council is an inspiring assortment of activists, each with unique backgrounds, focused on initiatives that work toward a single overarching belief: Good mental health is a fundamental right, and it is now more important than ever.

Founded in Kate Spade New York in January 2022, the Social Impact Council advocates for women and girls on a global scale by providing financial support to organizations working with gender empowerment and mental health as a primary goal. This year, Kate Spade New York and her Foundation, in partnership with the Social Impact Council, are investing more than $2 million to provide access to women’s empowerment and mental health resources around the world, with the ultimate goal of empowering 100,000 women and girls with mental health support by 2025. Watch the video above to learn about this group of motivating leaders, and keep reading to learn more about each of them.

traji b. Henson

You know Taraji P. Henson from Breaking Barriers movies and TV. What you might not know about the award-winning, charismatic actress, director, and entrepreneur is that she launched in Fall 2018. Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation In honor of her late father who struggled with mental health challenges without support or resources. The Foundation’s mission is to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health in the black community.

“World Mental Health Day is making a very difficult conversation and putting it on a global platform. When you do that, you break down stigmas,” Henson explains. “In every walk in life, people experience anxiety and mental health struggles, so it is important that we have these platforms to talk about such a heavy topic. You create these circles of people where you can create a safe space to talk about difficult topics in life; you find the commonalities shared with other humans and you build from there.”

Elisha London

Elisha London is a UK-based entrepreneur and mental health advocate, and is the founder and CEO of Prospera Global, a mental health consulting firm that works with companies, philanthropists, and investors to implement mental health support programs. London’s personal and professional journey has focused on mental health for years now. Prior to launching Prospira Global, she was the director of the Heads Together campaign, a mental health initiative of the Royal Foundation. In 2018, London founded United for Global Mental Health, an organization that works to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and increase support for mental health on a global scale. “Having good mental health is about having a healthy mind that enables you to live a good life,” she says.

Catherine Tinsley

Catherine Tinsley is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Management at Georgetown University. There, she studies gender dynamics in organizations as well as personal and social perceptions, which she describes as how we process information and form judgments about other people.

In her view, “Mental health is about balance. It is about awareness. It’s about a modest amount of self-control. You can’t stop yourself from feeling emotional and you can’t stop life’s ups and downs, but good mental health creates positive boundaries between you and the outside world.” In her role as an expert in gender-smart leadership, Tinsley has participated in global seminars as a speaker on the role that trust plays in women’s economic empowerment .

Latham Thomas

Latham Thomas works to advance reproductive justice and childbirth equality. She’s the founder of Mama Glow, a maternity lifestyle company that includes a women’s center and a roster of doulas who support women at every stage of childbearing. Also fired Mama Glow FoundationAn organization focused on equity at birth that works to transform reproductive health in the United States through education, advocacy, and the arts.

“Many of us suffer because we do not have access to a feeling of empowerment. We do not have access to a sense of personal well-being,” she says. “Our mental health is just as important as every aspect of our well-being. In the West we separate physical health from mental health and emotional health, [but] It’s all related.”

Jazz Thornton

It was co-founded by Jazz Thornton Award-winning New Zealand mental health advocate, film director and author voices of hopea non-profit organization working to erase the stigma around mental health, in 2014. Her short film, Dear suicide, captures real people—including herself—reading suicide notes they wrote, then explaining why they’re grateful to be alive. It struck a chord, racking up over 80 million views within the first 48 hours of posting it online.

“Empowerment means knowing that you have the ability to live whatever you want to do,” she says. “For me, growing up facing mental health battles from such a young age is what made me understand the importance of talking about them, and learning how to take care of your mental health, as well as how to take care of the mental health of those around you.”

Norit Torimushi

As the former CEO of echo– A leading women’s social enterprise in East Africa providing education and confidence-building workshops for women and girls – and an advocate for gender equality, Norette Turimuci has dedicated her career to empowering and promoting future women leaders.

When asked, during the filming of the video, to define mental health, she said, “Mental health is when my thoughts and heart are in a place free of judgment, guilt, shame, control, anxiety, and when they have space for gratitude. For my gratitude for life, for my being, and for my feeling that I I deserve to be here.”