Managing: Europe & South East Asia
Sandra Ferreira (SOUTH AFRICA)
Ms Ferreira was diagnosed with BMD1 in 2005. Her journey to acceptance has been riddled with many hospital admissions and denial for several of those years. Only in recent years she came to accept her condition and with that an effective course of treatment. She is also fortunate enough to be surrounded by supportive, loving people in her home and work environment. For the first time in her life she is not ashamed about her condition and is openly speak about it to her friends, family & co-workers. She believes that she can add value to the light of mental health and become part of the change. Education has also been a large part of her life and has worked in various public & private schools in South Africa, predominately in sports departments but has also worked as a classroom teacher and head of department. She is looking to diversify her studies to include mental health education and have recently completed an online teacher development course: embedding mental health into the curriculum. She is hoping that within the next couple of years she can register for a Master’s degree in a related field of mental health education. Her professional career has been circular in nature, not only because of professional development but also because of her condition. She has at times wondered why she has had so many diverse experiences but she said “perhaps it's all led me to be in the right place at the right time to venture into the broader scope of mental health and all its encompassing elements.”
Managing: Americas
Shaun McNeil (NEW ZEALAND)
Mr McNeil is an experienced mental health professional who has worked and volunteered for over 30 years in the mental health sector. He has completed a mental health nursing qualification, a leadership qualification, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mental Health Practice. He has a long-lived experience of severe depression and anxiety and is a suicide attempt survivor. Shaun is an associate member of Te Ao Maramatanga-New Zealand College of Mental Health Nursing and is trained in delivering Applied Suicide Intervention Skills (ASIST) and has completed advance training in QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer). Mr McNeil co-founded Scotland's National mental health consumer organisation VOX-Voices of Experience and is a member of the International Lived Experience group called Interrelate. He came to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2010 and worked for Wellink Trust, a mental health NGO as a Senior Manager, then Chief Executive, and then was a District Manager with Mental Health NGO, Emerge Aotearoa, and is now the National Consumer Engagement Advisor in the Mental Health and Addiction Quality Improvement Programe, of the Health Quality and Safety Commission. 

Managing: Western Pacific
​Larry White (CANADA)
Mr. White’s career took him on a journey across Canada, including a number of years he lived and worked in Inuit and First Nations communities. In these places, he worked in retail management, recreation centre management contact centre management and, for the past 21 years or so, in college/university administration. I now run his own educational development consulting business in addition to facilitating online courses for several colleges and universities. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies, Master of Distance Education, and currently working toward his Doctor of Education. His research interests are at the intersection of instructional design and supporting student mental health and, specifically, hopes to identify ways that we can mitigate academic stressors for students at the point that curriculum and pedagogy are designed and developed. In 2017, following three significant events in his world, he was diagnosed with moderate to severe depression. As a result, his learned a great deal about himself and mental health playing a role in his doctoral studies. He serves on the Educational Developers Caucus sub-committee on inclusivity and advocate mental wellness in education.
Managing: Southern Africa
Marie Abanga (CAMEROON)
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, 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.

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.
Managing: Northern Africa
Odireleng Kasale (BOTSWANA)
Odireleng is the founder of Sesha Recovery an organization that works to prevent substance 
abuse; increase access to evidence-based treatment, and promotes sustained recovery. In her years as the Founder of Sesha Recovery she has assisted in coordinating successful grassroots awareness campaigns, projects aimed at addressing substance use among women and at-risk youth and designing & delivering both behavioural and socio-economic interventions and initiatives.