Garen Staglin

Founded in 2020, the Healthy Brains Global Initiative, HBGI, was born out of a lack of prioritization and funding for mental health worldwide. In collaboration with the World Bank and with the support of the World Health Organization and UNICEF, HBGI was created to challenge the global mental health response. We uniquely take an outcomes-based approach to drive tangible impacts for individuals, families and communities. Mental health impacts everyone and all aspects of our lives. Nearly 1 billion people worldwide suffer from poor mental health, 1 in 2 of us in our lifetimes. Many countries spend less than 2% of their healthcare budget on mental health. In high income countries that invest in mental health, performance could often be managed better and outcomes could be clearer. Things need to be done differently: existing resources must go further, systems must change, and philanthropy must play a role. With the support of our Board, Advisory Council and Lived Experience Council, we are seeking to revolutionize the scale and effectiveness of mental health programs globally. We provide hands-on technical support across sectors to strengthen existing service performance for the user and their communities, such as our Technical Assistance work in California, and we also work with partners to create new programs, contracting them for outcomes, such as our maternal mental health pilot in South Africa. We are not a direct service provider. We work with others to create and enhance mental health programs that will operate flexibly, can be sustained over time and ultimately deliver for their users. In doing this, we are building the capacity of the system, gathering data on impact and ultimately leading systemic change. We are a registered non-profit (501c(3)).