MissionCultivating Excellent Mental Health Among Academics Worldwide
The DetailsWhat We Do
Research and Systemic Change
The Global Consortium for Academic Mental Health is a volunteer based group that coordinates to conduct independent research on 1) existing effective mental health initiatives targeting academics, and 2) the current state of mental health among academics, available services, cultural stigma, and institutional barriers. We create guidance, templates and best practices for departments and institutions for achieving excellent mental health among their academic populace. We aim to conduct periodic evaluations, ranking institutions on their efforts and objective outcomes, and publish these rankings for the consideration of academics when making education and career choices.Consulting
Our On Campus team provides consulting services directly to individuals, departments, institutions, and associations which include requirements analysis, program development, deployment strategies and evaluation of impact. Our core service is the expert delivery of personalized evidence-based interventions, trainings, workshops, and anti-stigma campaigns.Supportive Networking
Dragonfly Café facilitates academics of all disciplines from around the world to support each other in cultivating mental health in both live events and through an online platform. During COVID-19, we started hosting three live events each week in response to campus and lab shut downs. We are helping combat social isolation which can lead to exacerbation of mental health issues.The TeamMeet our amazing volunteers.
Who We Are
We are a globally operating non-profit organization, formed by academics for academics. Made up of a wide range of scientists, researchers, students and faculty from all over the world, we have come to realize how common our struggles are in the academic environment and that aspects of academia itself unnecessarily contribute to and sustain unhealthy conditions.
We love our academic pursuits, and we want to take care of ourselves and enjoy our lives at the same time. We have formed this consortium, powered by volunteers operating with a horizontal hierarchy, to bring together academics from all over the world to support each other and create lasting and systemic change.
We Are -
Global - academia is inherently international and so are we.
Inclusive - graduate and professional students, postdoctoral fellows, residents, faculty, staff and administrators alike all deserve excellent mental health.
Multidisciplinary - science, humanities, arts and professional post-baccalaureate education each have unique needs, yet also benefit from universal principles applied to mental health efforts.
Our Values
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Kindness. For self, for others, for all.
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Active Inclusion. Everyone feels their contribution is valued.
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Deliberate Diversity. We come in all shapes, forms, and colours.
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Evidence-based. No flim-flam, only the best scientific practice.
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Open access. Research and resources: no barriers.
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Integrity. We promise - we deliver.
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Sustainability. Long term thinking leads to long term impact.
Our historyWhere it all began
Our birthplace: I, Scientist Conference 2019, Berlin
In September 2019 the I, Scientist Conference on gender, career paths and networking took place in Berlin, Germany. This conference was founded with the aim to create a structural change in science, to draw attention to gender-based prejudices, and offer talks to under-represented groups. Wendy Ingram, PhD was a plenary speaker in the mental health session where she delivered an emotional and inspiring talk about the current state of Mental Health in Academia and shared her work on how to improve it. She then initiated a Mental Health breakout group during an activism session on the second day of the conference. This session was designed to connect people passionate about the same topic that wish to create change.
And it worked. The attendance in the Mental Health breakout group was huge – underlining how urgently this topic needed to be addressed. In the introduction round each person shared why they were passionate about mental health and what one thing they hoped they would get from the session. Jelena Brasanac, a PhD student in Germany, shared that one sentence that started everything: “I would like to start a network in Germany, so we can work together on a larger scale to improve mental health for everyone." Wendy’s response was, “Why not worldwide?” With an unanimous raise of hands, the Global Consortium for Academic Mental Health (the precursor for Dragonfly Mental Health) came into existence. Next people split into smaller task groups. We shared our ideas and experiences, opened up about problems and struggles, and brainstormed. In a short time the group settled on four prioritized topics: Systemic Change, Awareness, Prevention and Support.
Inspired and motivated, Jelena and Wendy couldn't let the momentum pass by and started planning. After numerous overseas calls and conceptualizing, the core volunteer group was organized. By December, there was a website, a slack workspace with over 50 volunteers and the first general meeting was held to work on our idea to cultivate excellent mental health in academia worldwide.