Shaping the Future of Mental Health

Pooja Mehta is an outspoken South Asian Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advocate, and is driving change in communities across the United States for the last 10 years. As a professional with direct lived experience and a suicide loss survivor, she is eager to further the dialogue around the role public health and personal perspective plays in mental healthcare, while leading conversations that change the way we think and talk about mental health as a society.

A child of Indian immigrants raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Pooja’s values of community, compassion, and challenging norms carry through everything she does. Pooja holds a Masters in Public Health from Columbia, and is a leading voice in mental health advocacy thanks to her firsthand experiences ranging from psychiatric hospitals to town halls to Capitol Hill. Her work has been featured in a variety of platforms, podcasts, and articles, including NPR, ABC, WebMD, and TEDx.

In her spare time, Pooja enjoys playing her flute, rock climbing, and catching up on TV shows with her cat, Pepper.

If you are interested in learning from her story or further exploring the intersection of AAPI identity and mental health, book Pooja for a speaking engagement.