The Health Action Alliance's Workplace Mental Health Action Summit is a pivotal virtual event that gathers business leaders nationwide to address the challenges and opportunities of employee mental health and well-being.
This year’s summit, hosted in partnership with Mental Health Action Day, features compelling speakers who offer actionable guidance and strategies to help employers address polarization and loneliness — dual threats that can challenge well-being and undermine collaboration, innovation and worker productivity.
Our first panel confronts the dual challenges of the loneliness epidemic and our increasingly fragmented society, emphasizing the need for strengthened interpersonal relationships at work. This panel will detail ways to create a culture of belonging and unity to counter isolation and discord. Attendees will gain strategies to nurture meaningful connection and transform their workplaces into havens of support amid tumultuous times.
Start With Hope will lead an important discussion about the link between loneliness and substance use disorders with a focus on providing culturally responsive support for Black and Hispanic employees in recovery. For these groups, fostering community and meaningful social connections within the workplace is critical. Leading with hope will be a key messaging focus of the panel.
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.
Kim Dabbs is a global leader in Belonging and Purpose, whose unique life story informs her passionate advocacy for inclusion and understanding. Born in Korea and adopted by American parents, Kim's journey has taken her from feeling perpetually out of place in different cultures to becoming an influential voice in creating spaces where everyone feels they belong. As the Global Vice President of ESG and Social Innovation at Steelcase, she applies her extensive experience in social innovation, honed through roles like the Executive Director of the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology and a residency at Stanford's d.school, to foster more inclusive and equitable environments. As a sought-after speaker, Kim has delivered keynotes to organizations and institutions such as Google, Microsoft, MIT, The Drucker Forum, and The Guggenheim. Her debut book You Belong Here: The Power of Being Seen, Heard and Valued on Your Own Terms, reflects her transformation from a cultural chameleon trying to fit in to a thought leader who champions the idea of belonging to oneself.
Dr. Pike is the inaugural President and CEO of One Mind At Work, a non-profit at the nexus of science and
best practice, working with a global coalition of leaders who are committed to supporting workers’ mental
health and psychological wellbeing as they steward thriving and high performance organizations.
Dr. Pike is Professor of Psychology at Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and Mailman School of Public Health. She is the Founder and former Director of the Columbia-WHO Center for Global Mental Health where she now directs the Mental Health + Work Design Lab.
Dr. Pike has pioneered initiatives on the global stage advocating for expanded mental health services and translating research into practice in workplaces, schools, and under-resourced communities. Her scholarship focuses on eating disorders, culture and psychopathology, global mental health, and mental health at work.
She completed her BA/MA in international studies and psychology at Johns Hopkins University and her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Yale University. She is the recipient of multiple honors, including the 2021 American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology.
A passionate beekeeper, when she is not at her desk, Kathy is likely to be in her apiary tending her hives and doting on the thousands of resident honeybees.
Bob Safian is the host of podcast Masters of Scale: Rapid Response, downloaded by millions of business leaders and named by The New York Times as one of its “Podcasts for the Pandemic Era.” Guests on the show include CEOs from Airbnb to Delta, Instacart to Target, GM to Nike.
Safian was the first editor-in-chief to put Mark Zuckerberg on a magazine cover as the leader of Fast Company, which he oversaw for eleven years. Previously Safian served as an executive editor at Fortune and at Time. As founder of The Flux Group, an advisory group driving awareness of newvbusiness practices, Safian directly counsels Fortune 100 firms, startups and nonprofits across multiple industries.
An honors graduate of Brown University, Safian is married and has three sons.
Philip Rutherford is the strategy lead for substance use in the Strategy and Growth Office at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. In this role, he expands the organization’s impact in addressing the quality, effectiveness, accessibility and affordability of substance use programs and services for National Council members. He is also tasked with charting a course for progress, transformation and equity.
Rutherford has managed strategy and operations for several recovery-focused organizations. He is a member of committees at the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies. He serves on several nonprofit boards, including Serve Minnesota, the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers and the Police Treatment and Community Collaborative. Prior to the nonprofit world, he spent most of his career at Microsoft, Micron Electronics and the Taylor Corporation. Rutherford is an active member of the recovery community and has considerable experience in the areas of reentry and equity.
Kirsten Suto Seckler is the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the
addiction crisis in America.
Seckler has spent her career using marketing and communications to drive social change and impact. At Shatterproof, she addresses the ever-growing substance use disorder epidemic impacting the nation. Her work is focused on bringing science-based interventions to the public and ending the stigma of addiction negatively impacting those with substance use disorder and their
families. She is led the organization through a brand alignment and is building the organization’s grassroots engagement work. She helped launch new initiatives such as the Shatterproof Treatment Atlas, a platform to help
individuals and their families find the right type of quality addiction treatment, and a national plan to end addiction stigma in the United States. She also leads mass-market fundraising initiatives for Shatterproof.
For over 20 years, she was with Special Olympics International, most recently as the global Chief Brand and Communications Officer, leading a team worldwide to creatively shape and challenge perceptions about people with intellectual disabilities through sports.
As a member of the global executive leadership team, and over her time with the movement, she was instrumental in the global growth of Special Olympics, which is now in nearly 200 countries around the world and reaches more than 6 million athletes, and has nearly 90 percent brand recognition and familiarity. Her accomplishments included setting the global strategic agenda for the organization and organizing and promoting 11 Special Olympics World Games, both Winter and Summer, in locations throughout the world, including China, Japan, Korea, Ireland, Greece, Austria, and the United Arab Emirates. She established a multiyear global broadcast partnership with ESPN, which grew to be the first-time athletes with intellectual disabilities received live sports coverage. She also took the Special Olympics from being a U.S.-Centric brand to a global brand.
Seckler has been an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, teaching with the Integrated Marketing and Sports Industry Management Programs since 2013. Before joining Special Olympics,
Seckler worked in the marketing department at Kraft, where she helped manage the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile brand icon and year-round marketing
tour. She also spent five years working as a print journalist.
Seckler was an honoree of the Washington Women in Public Relations Woman of the Year Award and is an accomplished speaker and guest lecturer. She was recently named one of PRWeek’s Health Influencer 30 Class of 2022. She is also the Chair of the Board of Directors for Special Olympics District of Columbia.
Seckler has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware and a Certificate in Nonprofit Executive Management from Georgetown University. She resides in Northern Virginia with her husband, two children, and two dogs.
Earl Murphy is the proud Dad of two beautiful children, Cora (5) and William (2), and devoted Husband to his wife Audra. Earl is 43 years old, lives in New Hampshire, and serves as an Enterprise Account Executive at Salesforce, where he is also the President of Soberforce, a Business Resource Group supporting sobriety in the workplace.
Earl's sobriety date is April 20, 2018, which was also his 37th birthday. Over the past 6 plus years, Earl has become a Dad twice over, lost over 80lbs, and continues to enjoy progress physically, mentally, and spiritually. In addition to being a Top Performer at Salesforce, Earl is a Member of The School of Grit, an elite Mastermind Community comprised of Men aspiring to show up best for the ones they love; the School of Grit delivers the Unbeatable Mind training made famous by former Navy SEAL, Mark Divine.
In his free time, Earl is the Finance Chair for the local School Board, and an All Star baseball player in the 38+ Granite State Baseball League, a competitive league filled with former MLB superstars. Earl aims to live a fully integrated life today, anchored in sobriety and spread out across all facets of his life.
Baratunde Thurston tells a better story of us, weaving together threads of race, technology, democracy and climate through his work as an Emmy-nominated host, producer, writer, and public speaker. He is the host and executive producer of the PBS television series America
Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston, creator and host of How To Citizen with Baratunde which Apple named one of its favorite podcasts of 2020, and a founding partner of the new media startup Puck. His comedic memoir, How To Be Black, is a New York Times best-seller. In 2019, he delivered what MSNBC’s Brian Williams called “one of the greatest TED talks of all time.” Baratunde is unique in his ability to integrate and synthesize different and difficult topics in a style that’s intelligent, compassionate, and humorous. Baratunde serves on the boards of Civics Unplugged and the Brooklyn Public Library and lives in Los Angeles, California.
Eliane Boucher, PhD, is the Senior Director of Behavioral Science at Twill, leveraging her extensive background in Social/Personality Psychology. Transitioning from academia to Twill four years ago, she now spearheads Twill’s research and publication strategy, intertwining academic expertise with real-world user behavior analytics to enhance product optimization.
Natalie Chwalk has built her professional career around pillars of curiosity, authenticity, and connection. As the Lead Program Manager of Early Talent at MongoDB, she’s driven by designing and implementing global initiatives that empower and nurture diverse talent. Natalie holds degrees in Human Resource Management, Organizational Leadership, and Labor Studies from Rutgers University New Brunswick. As a certified Mental Health First Aider, one of her primary missions is to instill a holistic and empathetic approach within her workplace. Outside of work, Natalie enjoys hot yoga, attending live concerts, and capturing cherished moments through photography.
Elisha is a Vice President on Aon’s U.S. Health Transformation Team. She is a member of the U.S. Health Transformation Leadership Team, and leader for the Minneapolis Apprentice Program. Her role is to partner
globally with Aon colleagues and client leaders to understand their business imperatives, people strategy, culture, and partnerships to inform needed changes or enhancements. Her role also includes people leadership, which includes developing the next leaders at Aon.
Prior to joining Aon in 2021, Elisha served as the Clinical Director at Cigna Healthcare and concurrently practiced in the field for 18 years as a Licensed Mental Health Professional. She first began working in the industry in 2003 as a Mental Health Practitioner. Her background stretches clinical practice in community-based care, school-based counseling, and outpatient services. During her 16 years at Cigna, the highlights of her career was that she built Utilization and Case Management Programs in Autism and Eating Disorders and built a Talent Readiness and Sustainment Program for Medical and Behavioral Operations to serve 4000 employees.
Elisha’s expertise includes systemic mental health care. She brings her systemic thinking into her Prosci Change Management Certification to lead organization changes. She loves to facilitate design thinking sessions to discover client needs! Her background also includes organizational cultural journey development and sustainment. She is trained in Mental Health First Aid.
Elisha earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire, and a master’s degree in Counseling and Psychological Services from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Jon McLeod is a Mental Health Advocate and one of the founders of ESPN’s first Mental Health Awareness Affinity team, ESPN TRUST. The group was formed in late 2018 to support all ESPN/Disney teammates having a difficult time at work. Whether it's stress, depression, imposter syndrome, personal past trauma, or if you're just looking to increase your self-care habits, ESPN TRUST is there to support you and guide you to the right resource, and is something Jon whole-heartily believes in. Traveling the country to inspire others to prioritize their mental health is something he holds dear as well. Speaking at companies like Blue Shield, ESPN, Inspirational Church Inc., Booz Allen Hamilton, Disabilty IN, as well as, national podcasts
appearances, Jon seizes every opportunity to support communities around the globe. Certified in QPR and Mental Health First Aid, Jon uses those acquired skills to uplift and educate the next generation.
One of the most important parts of his community work, is the ability to speak to and encourage people from all levels of life. From overworked, corporate teams, to ex-convicts, gang members, at risk youth, and even the homeless. Jon also pushes men to fight the stigma by having powerful conversations and unpacking years of “traditional locker room mentality”damage! Ultimately, Jon believes and utilizes the power of communication to destroy stigma, defeat stereotypes, and empower all to better their mental health. Health is wealth. Invest in self!
