Thursday, August 28, 2025
9:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Time Zone: (UTC+13:00) Auckland, Wellington [Change Time Zone]
Register for the Free Webinar
Description

The quiet struggle with mental health is made even harder by stigma, leading to deep isolation and shame that makes it immensely difficult to reach out for help. The 2022 Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health confirmed this, with its main finding: “Stigma and discrimination can be worse than the impact of the mental health condition itself.”

This challenge is often amplified for marginalized individuals, minority groups, and people living with trauma or managing multiple health conditions, who face unique barriers and heightened societal pressures.

But there is real hope. Digital tools and peer-support communities are a powerful path forward. The transformative impact of these innovations is already in motion, fostering a more accepting and inclusive society.

Join our expert speakers for a deep conversation that explores practical ideas and proven solutions that are actively reshaping how we experience mental health. By leveraging digital technologies, countless organizations are already fostering greater empathy, amplifying lived experience stories, and building a future where reaching out for support is simply a natural part of a healthy life.

Key Discussion Points: 

  • Digital Platforms and Lived Experience: How key benefits such as accessibility, shared community and anonymity directly help to lessen mental health stigma.
  • Social Connection as Intervention: Exploring recent work by the World Health Organization and research published in The Lancet that shows social contact is one of the most evidence-based interventions for reducing stigma.
  • Personalized Paths to Acceptance: Examples from Australia (The Herd - Batyr) and England (the Time to Change campaign, which ran from 2007 to 2021) highlight how digital platforms and public campaigns (amplified via social media) can foster self-acceptance, enhance digital literacy, and reduce both societal prejudice and internalized stigma.
  • Fostering Inclusive Digital Communities: How harnessing the power of online peer support and digital storytelling helps to reduce isolation and promote understanding through shared experiences.
  • Future of Acceptance: Why the outlook for eliminating stigma and championing mental well-being is bright.
Fiona Costello
Fiona Costello
Fractional Strategic Initiatives Lead and Webinar MC
eMHIC
ENGLAND

Fiona Costello is a seasoned healthcare professional with over 15 years of experience spanning the NHS, private, and non-profit sectors. Currently serving as Strategic Initiatives Lead at eMHIC, International Business Development Director at Aire Innovate, and SVP Partnerships at Brain+, Fiona has consistently demonstrated her commitment to improving health services through technology. Her notable achievements include expanding digital mental health technology within NHS services at SilverCloud Health, contributing to the Canadian Mental Health App Assessment Standard with ORCHA, and enhancing digital health delivery in India. At Aire Innovate, Fiona advocates for the adoption of low-code platforms in healthcare, believing these tools can streamline processes and enhance patient care. With a focus on driving innovation safely and effectively, Fiona remains dedicated to learning and growing in the digital health field, always striving to contribute positively to healthcare outcomes through innovative solutions.


Jon Salmon
Jon Salmon
Purpose-Driven Leader, Community Builder & Social Innovation Specialist; Co-CEO of Speakers Collective
Byte Entertainment
UNITED KINGDOM

Jon is an award-winning social impact innovator, entrepreneur and mental health campaigner with over 25 years’ experience at the intersection of digital innovation, mental health, and community building.

He is the co-founder of social impact agency Byte Entertainment and the lived-experience-led not-for-profit Speakers Collective, supporting over 200 speakers with lived experience who drive change through education, storytelling and advocacy.

Jon brings more than a decade of experience designing impactful campaigns and community strategies that tackle isolation, bereavement, youth mental health and local empowerment.

His work spans partnerships with organisations ranging from FIFA and The Royal Foundation to NHS England and grassroots movements including Local Trust’s Big Local programme.

A dyslexic thinker and passionate advocate for neurodivergence, Jon shares his own lived experiences speaking openly about being sectioned and losing his father to suicide as a teenager.

Jon is committed to ending stigma and promoting inclusion, whether through national media, digital innovation, or collaborative campaigns with everyone from local communities to corporates, celebrities and philanthropists.

Contact Jon: Instagram | LinkedIn | X

Speakers Collective: Instagram | LinkedIn

Bye Entertainment: Instagram | LinkedIn


Sue Baker
Sue Baker
Director
Changing Minds Globally
UK

Sue is a Global leader with a significant track record, influence, and networks in the mental health campaigning and anti-stigma fields working with Governments, global bodies, NGOs, funders, researchers, and lived experience networks. 

She is the Founding Director of the Time to Change and the Time to Change Global programmes based at Mind with over 30 years experience in the NGO sector.  Now providing a range of services via her global consultancy including evidence-based approaches to addressing stigma and discrimination,  marketing strategies, and management consultancy and coaching across a range of sectors.

It is her passion and honour to work with partners, people with lived experience, and policy leaders to transform how societies treat mental health across cultures and contexts (via behaviour change and lived experience leadership).  

The Changing Minds Globally team is currently working in Africa, the Caribbean, Lithuania, the Falkland Islands, across Europe, and globally.

Contact Sue: suebaker@changingmindsglobally.com


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