OUR MENTORS
Our mentorship programme benefits the mentor, the mentee and the Organisation by driving increased engagement, empowerment, skills and leadership development amongst members.
Andrew Turtle
Australia
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Andrew Turtle is a thought leader, writer, advocate and innovator in the mental health and disability sectors. Graduating from a Master’s degree in International Public Health in 2011, Andrew's philosophy led to development of the Mental Health Navigation Tool (NavTool), an innovative website that utilised an innovative co-design process that mapped the mental health and related services in his region.
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Since then, Andrew has worked as a ‘support facilitator,’ coordinating services for people with severe and persistent illness and currently works as a ‘local area coordinator’ in partnerships with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Andrew is chairperson of The Nepean Blue Mountains Consumer and Carer Committee and as the Australian representative on the Global Mental Health Peer Network (GMHPN) aims to make a lasting contribution to the Global Mental Health Movement.
Eleni Misganaw
Ethiopia
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Eleni Misganaw is a mental health advocate with lived experience; particularly focusing on amplifying the voice of mental health care users in Ethiopia and beyond.
She co-founded the Mental Health Service Users Association established as an Ethiopian Society in 2018 and is serving as its President since its establishment. Eleni represents Ethiopian service users’ voice in the Global Mental Health Peer Network. |
She is part of the mentorship program in the GMHPN providing support to newly appointed Executive Committee members in areas of networking, research/articles/blogs writing etc.
Eleni lives with bipolar disorder since early adolescence, which gives her a first-hand experience on the mental health care service in Ethiopia. She has a Masters of Arts in Sociology and a background in Economics.
Eleni has been providing lived experience perspective to national and international mental health related reports, documents, and research-related works either in drafting, reviewing, or both.
Eleni lives with bipolar disorder since early adolescence, which gives her a first-hand experience on the mental health care service in Ethiopia. She has a Masters of Arts in Sociology and a background in Economics.
Eleni has been providing lived experience perspective to national and international mental health related reports, documents, and research-related works either in drafting, reviewing, or both.
Syd Gravel
Canada
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Syd Gravel is a former staff sergeant with thirty one years of experience with the Ottawa Police Service. Since his retirement, he has devoted all his time and energy to speaking and consulting on trauma management and developing peer support systems and training for peer support workers.
He has written and published “56 Seconds” and “How to Survive PTSD and Build Peer Support” and co-authored “Walk the Talk” and “Slay the Toxic Dragon – Police Leadership Impacting Member Wellness”. |
Syd co-leads the Peer and Trauma Support Systems (P.A.T.S.S.) Team for the Mood Disorders Society of Canada. In 2016, Syd was nominated by the Mental Health Commission of Canada as a Canadian Champion of Mental Health. He served as the first Canadian representative on the Global Mental Health Peer Network’s executive committee. He is the recipient of the Order of Merit for Police and the Order of Ottawa, both awarded as a result of his on-going peer support work at both the National and International level.
Marie Abanga
Cameroon
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Marie Abanga is on the executive committee of the Global Mental Health Peer Network, representing Cameroon. She is the founder of the association called “Hope for the Abused and Battered”. Marie is a lawyer by profession, a qualified psychotherapist, author and mental health advocate. In Cameroon, she carries out various campaigns both online and offline to raise awareness about mental health, combat stigma surrounding mental illness, and encourage persons with a lived experience to rise up and speak up.
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Marie’s aspiration is to establish a mental health care support. She has already started running such a centre from her home, where she has persons come in periodically. Marie lost her only brother to epilepsy and bipolar disorder in 2014, the same year she was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Swetha Bindu Jammalamadugu
Botswana
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Swetha Bindu Jammalamadugu, is a qualified medical doctor and psychiatrist in training. Her career goals are to improve research pool on mental health research, advocate for patients who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and help promote the concept of improvement of mental health rather than just focusing as a professional to treat patients who have already suffered the consequences of poor mental health hygiene.
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She aims to mentor fellow health professionals, fellow lived experience peers and learn as much as possible about managing mental illness, living with mental illness as well as teaching the general population the importance of focusing on mental health as a priority in schools, universities and work places. The knowledge of self-care is critically missing among people in general all over the world. "Let's change this!"