About

Our Story

Happier & healthier individuals and communities worldwide

We transform and build high-performing mental health systems that maximize outcomes for individuals

HBGI provides hands-on technical support across sectors to strengthen existing service performance for the user and their communities, such as our Technical Assistance work in California, and we also work with partners to create new programs, contracting them for outcomes, such as our maternal mental health pilot in South Africa. We are not a direct service provider. We work with others to create and enhance mental health programs that will operate flexibly, can be sustained over time and ultimately deliver for their users. In doing this, we are building the capacity of the system, gathering data on impact and ultimately leading systemic change.

Mental health is a shadow pandemic. Nearly 1 billion people worldwide suffer from poor mental health, 1 in 2 of us in our lifetimes. Poor mental health costs the global economy over c.US$1 trillion per year. Without change, by 2030, mental health problems will be the cause of death for more people than cancer, diabetes and respiratory conditions combined.

Despite this, there are insufficient services, programs and data to address poor mental health and its socio-economic consequences, especially in lower-income countries. Many countries spend less than 2% of their healthcare budget on mental health. In high income countries that invest in mental health, performance could often be managed better and outcomes could be clearer.

Things need to be done differently: existing resources must go further, systems must change, and philanthropy must play a role. With the support of our Board, Advisory Council and Lived Experience Council, we are seeking to revolutionize the scale and effectiveness of mental health programs globally.

Our vision

Happier and healthier individuals and communities worldwide.

Our mission

We build and transform high-performing mental health systems that maximize outcomes for individuals.

Our philosophy

Mental health impacts everyone and all aspects of our lives. There is no physical and social health without mental health.

Founded in 2020, the Healthy Brains Global Initiative, HBGI, was born out of a lack of prioritization and funding for mental health worldwide. In collaboration with the World Bank and with the support of the World Health Organization and UNICEF, HBGI was created to challenge the global mental health response. We uniquely take an outcomes-based approach to drive tangible impacts for individuals, families and communities.

We are a U.S. 501c3 and are in the process of registering as a UK charity.

We challenge the lack of global understanding around mental health, its causes and consequences, and the huge gaps in mental health services.

Empowering Outcomes

Individual outcomes

We center individual lived experience to create localized, culturally appropriate solutions. Working across diverse communities and cultures, we build solutions that are relevant and personalized for the individuals within each system. As well as drawing on local knowledge and service users, our Lived Experience Council advise us on how best to do this.

Performance

Performance underpins all we do, to increase impact and reduce waste. Wherever possible, we will look to connect service provider payments to outcomes and we will always promote rigorous performance data and transparent reporting.

Global impact

We work with the most vulnerable individuals and under-resourced communities to effect the greatest change. Happy and health individuals create happy and healthy communities.

We enhance and build mental health programs to improve the global mental health response, working with donors, governments, third sector and service providers.
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