Global Mental Health Action Network and Devex Event: Delivering Mental Health Care For All: Why Investment Now Is Crucial

Kate Warren is Executive Vice President and resident talent and careers guru at Devex. With 15 years of global development recruitment experience advising international NGOs, consulting firms, and donor agencies, she has a finger on the pulse of hiring trends across the industry and insider knowledge on what it takes to break in.

Shantha Rau Barriga is the founding director of the disability rights division at Human Rights Watch. She leads research and advocacy on human rights abuses against people with disabilities worldwide including: the shackling of people with psychosocial disabilities, denial of education for children with disabilities, violence against women and girls with disabilities, institutionalization of children and adults with disabilities, and the neglect of people with disabilities in humanitarian emergencies. Shantha also serves as co-chair of the Leadership Management Team at Human Rights Watch, and is head of the Brussels office.

Cecilia (@CecyVacaJones) joined the Foundation in 2016 as Programme Director, and became Executive Director in 2020. She has over 20 years of experience managing social development policies and programmes. Before she joined the Foundation, Cecilia was the Coordinating Minister of Social Development of Ecuador from April 2013 to March 2016. She was responsible for policies in health, education, housing, sport and social welfare.
Over the years, she also held policy-making roles in various other Ecuadorian ministries — including the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Social Inclusion and the Ministry of Education — where she championed policies to improve the conditions of children, women and indigenous populations.

Dévora Kestel is a senior mental health policy specialist with more than twenty five years of international experience in Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, implementing and advising governments on national policies related to mental health systems. She is a strong advocate for the rights of people with mental health issues.

Raj is on the Advisory Board for the Global Mental Health Action Network, representing the SEARO region. Raj is Director of Mariwala Health Initiative, an organization that is working toward a community-based, nation-wide mental health ecosystem that is continually evolving, and accessible to the most marginalized. Currently, Raj is also a board member of Parcham, an NGO that serves adolescent girls through sports and has previously worked at Mercy Corps International as well as in the for-profit field.