June 1, 2022 – SAN FRANCISCO – Modern Health, a leading workplace mental health platform supporting enterprises globally, today introduces a new industry awards program called “Modern Health Heroes” to recognize HR professionals and licensed mental health care providers who have gone above and beyond to support mental health and the general well-being of people, both at work and in their personal lives.

Before the pandemic, there were 51.5 million U.S. adults, or one in five people, living with mental health issues. The pandemic only accelerated this - in 2020, Modern Health’s research found more than half of U.S. adults experienced more stress and anxiety that year than at any other time in their lives. This combination of an unprecedented global pandemic, deep political divisions, race-related violence, and societal unrest has resulted in a global mental health crisis.

“We’ve seen mental health issues rising rapidly and unfortunately we don’t have enough therapists in the world to care for everyone who needs it. This has put enormous pressure on mental health care providers who have had to step up to support however they can,” said Modern Health’s Vice President of Clinical Strategy & Research, Dr. Myra Altman. “We wanted to take a moment to recognize those mental health care providers who are still dealing with the mental health fallout of what has been an incredibly challenging few years.”

In its first year, Modern Health Heroes will recognize individuals in the U.S. in two categories:

• HR leaders:  who have made a positive impact on an organization’s workplace culture and the mental well-being of its employees. 
• Licensed mental health care providers: who have made a positive impact on the patients and the communities they serve. 

Nominations can be submitted here starting today through July 13, 2022. Submissions will be judged by a panel of licensed mental health care professionals and HR leaders, representing diverse perspectives and expertise in their respective fields. 

“The role of an HR leader has never been more important or complex,” said Modern Health’s Chief People Officer, Maureen Calabrese. “A strong employee experience is one of the most critical aspects of a company’s ability to recruit and retain talent in a world where people are the number one driver of company performance. HR professionals are the backbone of this effort, setting the tone for company culture, building end-to-end employee experiences, and implementing it all with an eye towards equity and belonging. The last few years have really spotlighted the incredible value of our HR teams as they’ve become the most important voice in the room and have, in some cases, shown incredible innovation and resiliency.”

This year’s Modern Health Heroes selection panel will include:

• Evangeline Mendiola, director of global benefits & well-being at Zendesk
• Dr. Taisha Caldwell-Harvey, Ph. D., licensed psychologist, founder of The Black Girl Doctor, and mental health consultant at Modern Health
• Dr. Myra Altman, Ph.D. licensed psychologist and vice president of clinical strategy & research at Modern Health
• Dr. Jessica Jackson, Ph.D. licensed psychologist and global clinical DEIB manager at Modern Health

The winners and honorees will be officially announced at Modern Health’s global industry conference, Elevate, which takes place Sept. 7-8, 2022. In addition, winners and honorees will be featured in Quartz, this year’s media partner, and will receive a digital award badge.

For each category winner, Modern Health will donate $500 to the winners’ mental health non-profit organization of choice. For more information about Modern Health, visit modernhealth.com.

About Modern Health

Modern Health is the comprehensive mental health and wellness platform that combines clinically validated assessments and care recommendations, self-service wellness kits, a global network of certified coaches, and licensed therapists, all available in a single app. Modern Health empowers employers to lead the charge in acknowledging that mental health is just as important as physical health, destigmatizing the conversation, and increasing accessibility of mental health services for all.

Founded in 2017, Modern Health incorporates evidence-based psychology principles and seamless technology to serve the needs of companies globally. Headquartered in San Francisco, Modern Health has raised more than $172 million from Founders Fund, Battery Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Afore Capital, MGV, Frederic Kerrest (co-founder of Okta), and 01 Advisors.

Contact details: press@modernhealth.com  

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