Our changing climate takes a heavy toll on our mental health, causing depression and post-traumatic stress, as well as heightened risk for substance use and suicide. Among these mental health impacts is eco-anxiety, which is defined by the American Psychological Association as “a chronic fear of environmental doom.”
Eco-anxiety is widespread in the workforce. In fact, 43% of workers report experiencing eco-anxiety “often” or “almost always,” resulting in feelings of powerlessness, work demotivation and lost focus. And 60% want employers to do more to address the causes of eco-anxiety.
Join us for a virtual summit on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 1 p.m. ET to learn ways to fortify your employees against eco-anxiety and other mental health impacts of our changing climate. The summit will provide insights from distinguished business leaders and public health experts who are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the adverse mental health effects of extreme heat, poor air quality and severe weather events in the workforce.
The event is hosted by the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health, a group of health and science experts and business leaders dedicated to empowering employers to protect their workers from the health risks posed by our changing climate. The Commission was created by the Health Action Alliance in partnership with Mercer and with strategic input from the CDC Foundation. Additional support for the initiative is being provided by Elevance Health and The Hartford.
The Health Action Alliance is a joint initiative of the Ad Council, the CDC Foundation and the de Beaumont Foundation—in partnership with Meteorite. Our free tools, training and events help employers, large and small, navigate evolving health challenges, improve the health of workers and engage with public health partners to build stronger, healthier communities.
Abner Mason is the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer for GroundGame.Health, a social impact company that manages the complex connections between health plans, members, and Community-Based Organizations to fulfill unmet social and care needs for people everywhere. Abner has spent decades working to reduce barriers to care faced by underserved people nationally and internationally, from the local to the federal level. He currently sits as a Commissioner for the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health; is on the board of Manifest MedEx; serves as Vice Chair of the board for California Black Health Network; is a member of United States of Care’s Founders Council; and is a member of the American Medical Association’s External Equity and Innovation Advisory Group. Abner founded HealthTech 4 Medicaid and SameSky Health.
Katherine Catalano is the Deputy Director of the Center for Climate, Health and Equity at the American Public Health Association. Katherine is a communicator, strategic planner, and leader with a decade of experience in climate policy, advocacy, and education across sectors and audiences with a particular focus on centering justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in every aspect of the climate movement. Katherine is passionate about applying her skills and experience to affect change and bring stakeholders together to advocate for climate justice and equitable health outcomes. She received both her Bachelor’s in environmental science and policy and her Master’s in applied American politics and policy from Florida State University.
Dr. Adam Seidner, MD, MPH, is the Chief Medical Officer for The Hartford. He is responsible for The Hartford’s strategy and policy across all lines of business with a particular focus on Workers’ Compensation and Disability Management. He has worked on many public health issues, including indoor air quality, opioid epidemic, pandemics, and catastrophic events. He is responsible for medical policy development, quality assurance and improvement.
He worked on vaccine development and testing for 10 years. Other areas of research include worksite health promotion, return to work and stay at work, integrative pain management, and fitness for work. He and The Hartford have worked on the many industry research projects including RETAIN-CT, BRITE, IMPOWR-YOU, and CPH-NEW.
He also serves on an advisory board at The National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health. The MIRHIQL (Multilevel Interventions to Reduce Harm and Improve Quality of Life for Patients on Long Term Opioid Therapy) Research Network is a part of the NIH’s Helping to end Addiction Long Term (HEAL) Initiative.
Dr. Seidner earned a doctor of medicine degree from SUNY Health Science Center, a master’s degree in public health from the University of Connecticut, and an A.B. in Anthropology from Hamilton College. He is board-certified by the American Board of Preventative Medicine: Occupational and Environmental Medicine and American Board of Family Medicine.
Sarah Newman founded the Climate Mental Health Network in 2021 after her own struggles with climate emotions. It is now a national organization that leads research and offers programs and resources for youth, teachers and parents across the United States. She previously worked for many years creating impact campaigns for films, as a community organizer and a nonprofit outreach director. She has a BA from Barnard College and MPH from UCLA.
Marcene Mitchell is the senior vice president of Climate Change at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Marcene is advancing WWF's important climate agenda in the US and globally and building greater synergies across WW's climate change mitigation and resilience initiatives—with a particular focus on nature-based climate solutions. Marcene’s role is crosscutting because addressing the climate crisis cuts across all aspects of work at WWF.
Marcene previously served as the Global Head of Climate Strategy and Business Development at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank. In this role at IFC and in previous positions, Ms. Mitchell’s expertise has been on creating new markets for business to invest in low carbon technologies and infrastructure. She’s pioneered work at IFC in resource efficiency for the built environment and established new market transformation programs for developing countries in distributed solar generation, offshore wind, and waste and water management.
In addition to her work internationally, Marcene has been part of Green Bank initiatives in the United States, which scale climate finance by leveraging public sector funds with private investment. She is currently the Vice- Chairman of the Board of the Montgomery County Green Bank which brings renewable energy and energy efficiency to small businesses and moderate- and low income households in Maryland.
Marcene holds a degree in International Relations from Brown University and an MBA in Finance from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
