Craig S. Kramer, Mental Health Ambassador and Chair, Global Campaign on Mental Health, Johnson & Johnson

Craig Kramer, a Mental Health Ambassador and Chair, Global Campaign for Mental Health, in Neuroscience External Affairs at Janssen R&D, a Johnson & Johnson company shares a very personal mental health story that led to his work to transform workplace mental health care globally by raising awareness, reducing stigma, promoting research, improving access, and ensuring better patient outcomes.

Audrey Gruss, Founder and Chairman, Hope for Depression Research Foundation and Dr. Eric J Nestler, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai

Audrey Gruss, Founder and Chairman, Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF) cites compelling statistics to frame the severity of the mental health crisis in America during the COVID-19 pandemic. She shares her own personal experience of her mother’s struggle with clinical depression that inspired her to create her Foundation and the Depression Task Force to fund cutting-edge, scientific research into the origins, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression and its related mood and other emotional disorders. Dr. Eric J. Nestler, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai closed out this presentation discussing the Depression Task Force research and shared laboratory to advance the understanding of the biological origins of depression. For more information visit hopefordepression.org.

Peter S. Paine III, SVP Worldwide Commercialization Strategy & Capabilities, Bristol Myers Squibb; Susan Conway Jablonski, Founder, The Leadership Consortium

Peter S. Paine III shares his lived mental health experience as he suffered depression and sought help from Susan Conway Jablonksi, in the HR Department of his consulting firm at the time.

Moderator: Dr. Arthur C. Evans, Jr., Ph.D., CEO, American Psychological Association; Panelists: Keaton Fletcher, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology; Ashley Nixon, Ph.D., Associate Professor of HR/OB, Atkinson Graduate School of Management, Willamette University; Dr. Enrica N. Ruggs, Associate Professor of Management, C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston

Dr. Arthur C. Evans, Jr., CEO, American Psychological Association, leads a discussion with a group of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists about what makes some workplaces healthier than others. This panel of experts share tips and insights on the do’s and don’ts to achieve a healthier workplace culture.

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, MD, MPH, FAAP, California Surgeon General; ACEs

Dr. Burke Harris, California Surgeon General, explains childhood trauma or Adverse Child Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress and how they show up in the workplace. Our ACE history counts experiences of abuse, neglect and household challenges that happened to us as children. Studies have shown the effects of ACEs are connected to negative health effects, both physically and mentally. She shares staggering insights and data and highlighted the importance of building public awareness and creating environments and structures that promote healing and buffering.

Moderator: Ruth Harper, Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer, ManpowerGroup. Panelists: Michelle Nettles, Chief People & Culture Officer, ManpowerGroup; Ginnie Carlier, Americas Vice Chair – Talent, EY

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the challenges around workplace mental health, but it’s not a new thing. This panel of corporate workplace leaders discuss how employees are demanding the need for more support and how we need to activate it, as well as how mental health plays into the “Great Resignation” labor shortages and strategies on what organizations must do to retain workers and attract new workers.

Dr. Joshua Gordon, M.D. Ph.D., Director of the National Institute of Mental Health

Dr. Joshua Gordon, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, shares in easy-to-understand terms the types of stress and their effects on mental health. He explains that certain types of stress, such as acute stress can improve performance for a short time, but that over time stress builds up into a continuum that can spill over to performance as it begins to interfere with our functioning. This is what causes increased levels of burnout and mental illness that can lead to the worst outcomes.

Moderator: Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media and Publisher of ForbesWomen

Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media and Publisher of ForbesWomen, leads a conversation around caregiving and how it is inextricably linked to managing stress and the well-being of our employees. The panelists drill down to understand the complexities of caregiving in our workforces and how we can better align the policies we have in place today for the future.

Impact of COVID on Caregivers and Working Mothers from SHRM on Vimeo.

Jim Towey, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Aging with Dignity; Richard S.Cohen, President, The Walden Group

Jim Towey, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ageing with Dignity, shares an intimate firsthand account of his relationship with Mother Teresa of Calcutta as her legal counsel and how her philosophies tie directly to HR. He talks candidly about how each individual person can make a difference in their organizations specifically in HR roles that ultimately transform lives through developing connections providing belonging, compassion and support. Richard Cohen follows with a poignant story about his wife’s battle with cancer and how compassion and meaningful support from the workplace contributed to her final days being a “smooth river.”

Introduction: Garen Staglin, Co-Founder and Chairman, One Mind

Speaker: The Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy, Former Congressman (D-RI); Founder, The Kennedy Forum; Co-Founder, One Mind

The Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy speaks passionately about his own lived experiences with Mental Health and the challenges we face today. He shares that there is no political movement for mental health and that’s driven by stigma. He pressed for a global effort to address the brain health and fight for parity in policy, because “mental health is health”.

Moderator: Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP; Chief Knowledge Officer, SHRM

Panelists: Banmali Agrawala, President – Infrastructure, Defence & Aerospace and Global Corporate Affairs at Tata Sons Private Limited; Katarina Berg, Chief Human Resources Officer, Spotify; Dr. Richard J L Heron, MB, CHB FRCP, FFPM FACOEM Former Vice President Health, BP

Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, SHRM’s Chief Knowledge Officer discusses global perspectives on mental health and wellness with a panel of business leaders from India, Sweden, and the UK.

Moderator: Marjorie Morrison, CEO, Psych Hub

Panelists: Maria Colacurcio, CEO, Syndio; Harriet Dominique, President, USAA Foundation and Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Corporate Responsibility Officer, USAA; Sonja Hughes, MD, MHA, FACOG, Vice President, Strategy & Service Excellence, Aetna, a CVS Health Company; Sabrina Spitaletta, Senior Director, Center for Public Health, Milken Institute

Marjorie Morrison leads a diverse panel of workplace leaders in a conversation weaving together cultural humility and empathy in the workplace.

Joey Hubbard, Chief Training Officer, Thrive Global

Joey Hubbard shares research that was uncovered through a Thrive Global partnership with Stanford Medicine. The research looked at the brain to understand the causation of stress, anxiety, and depression. It was discovered there are eight distinct ways the brain responds to stress and classified them as Biotypes. A Biotype is a “stuck” pathway or thought pattern. Thrive Global has built a program around how to help people understand these Biotypes so they can interrupt and manage against them. Learn more at thriveglobal.com.

Moderator: Daryl Tol, Executive Vice President, One Mind

Panelists: Cesar Carvalho, Co-Founder & CEO, Gympass; Joanne P. McCallie, Author, NCAA Basketball Coach; David Stark, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Morgan Stanley

The talented panel provides a recap of the day’s presentations. They answer questions that showcase focal points to improve discussions in mental health’s connection to overall performance in the workplace. These are based on known trauma, changes to organizational structure and policies to accommodate the continued and ongoing challenges from COVID-19.

Wendi Safstrom, President, SHRM Foundation

Wendi Safstrom, President of SHRM Foundation closes the Summit and acknowledges the hard work of all the participants and further confirms both SHRM Foundation and SHRM’s commitment to workplace mental health and wellness by continuing to provide evidence-based strategies for HR.