CAMH celebrates the launch of womenmind(TM)
New philanthropic program will focus on closing the gender gap in mental health
TORONTO, March 5, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, CAMH proudly announced two gifts totaling $6.5 million to support the launch of womenmind, a community of philanthropists tackling unique gender issues in mental health. A $5-million gift from Sandi and Jim Treliving and family, coupled with a $1.5-million donation from Hudson's Bay Foundation, will enable CAMH to put a defined focus on closing the gender gap in mental health.
"Health research has overlooked the biological and socially determined issues unique to women," says Dr. Catherine Zahn, President & CEO, CAMH. "At CAMH, we have worked hard toward gender parity in recruiting, retaining and supporting our women scientists and research that addresses mental illness and its manifestations in women. We are leading important projects focused on women's mental health, and today, 40 per cent of our researchers are women."
womenmind will fuel philanthropy focused on accelerating discovery related to improving the mental health of girls and women and supporting female-identifying researchers to become leaders in the sciences.
"This is a gift from our family to women everywhere," says Sandi Treliving. "womenmind is an opportunity for us to bring women in philanthropy together through a shared vision, lift up the voices of women living with mental illness and advance women in science. There's no better place to do all of that than at CAMH."
Members of the womenmind community will also connect with and learn from each other through a variety of mentoring and networking opportunities.
"Hudson's Bay Foundation is committed to supporting mental health programs across Canada," says Iain Nairn, President, Hudson's Bay. "Through our $1.5-million donation, we will work to scale the womenmind initiative nationally through a series of events in our stores, designed to spark conversation about closing the gender gaps in mental health."
In its first five years, womenmind will raise funds to support a number of initiatives such as recruiting new female scientists, providing early career start-up support, holding research and seed grant competitions, offering mentoring programs for women in science, and hosting an annual global research symposium.
"We are so grateful to Sandi Treliving and the Treliving Family for their support of womenmind, as well as Hudson's Bay Foundation for their partnership," says Deborah Gillis, President & CEO, CAMH Foundation. "There is no better time than now to build a community of passionate CAMH supporters who will amplify women's mental health and elevate women in science."
To learn more about joining the womenmind community and closing the gender gap in mental health at CAMH and beyond, please visit camh.ca/womenmind.
SOURCE Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Samantha Delenardo, Media, CAMH, [email protected], 416-574-3874
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