October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and at Dalberg, we’re committed to understanding the profound impact of mental well-being on our daily lives and workplaces. This commitment is reflected in our collaboration with the Aspen Institute’s Finance Leaders Fellowship on the recent report, “A Crisis of Our Time: Exploring the Global Rise of Mental Illness Through Economics, Lived Experiences, and Expert Insights.” The report highlights the staggering economic toll of mental health conditions, which account for nearly $1 trillion in lost productivity each year, and emphasizes the need for urgent action.

To deepen this conversation, we engaged with two inspiring leaders who have witnessed the evolving role of mental health awareness in their respective fields—Erika Karp, a sustainable finance leader, and Dr. Derek Yach, a global health advocate – the authors of the report. In this article, they share insights on how we can build workplaces that prioritize mental well-being across sectors and drive positive outcomes for both employees and organizations.

Recognizing Mental Health as a Strategic Priority

Given your extensive experience in identifying trends in investment patterns, how did you come to recognize the significance of mental health as a crucial consideration, as highlighted in the Aspen Report on Mental Health?

Erika Karp: As with many great investment ideas, the key is to zero in on issues that haven’t been broadly considered and analyzed by the whole investment community. In many cases, this means that lateral thinking is key. What are the intersections and interdependencies of factors that ultimately affect investment outcomes? In other words, how do we deploy systems thinking such that we can consider potential investments all along the chain of multiple industries that are touched by the theme.

Regarding mental health, first, we need to understand the scope and magnitude of the crisis ($Trillions.) Then, we need to identify the structural issues that are involved and that need to be addressed, such as lack of healthcare parity, lack of infrastructure for diagnosis treatment, and stigma. And to highlight the incredible urgency of dealing with the crisis, we need to understand the economic and social implications of not addressing the problem, particularly, the financial costs to the healthcare system, the economy, the pain and suffering, and the loss of productivity for companies operating in the current environment.

What are some innovative approaches you’ve seen globally for integrating mental health into workplace well-being strategies?

Dr. Derek Yach: Successful workplace mental health programs start with the clear and visible support of the CEO of the company. This is a first step towards destigmatizing mental health and should precede innovative programs being developed.

A second step involves developing a workplace code of conduct that encourages tolerance for people with mental illness and strongly opposes the creation of a “toxic work environment.” Successful programs provide flexible workplace arrangements for all employees, especially those with any health-related issues.

A third step involves ensuring that employees have equal access to mental and physical health services and complementing these by providing mindfulness and physical activity programs. Recently, access to digital mental health programs has been shown to play useful roles in providing resources and support to employees.
Program evaluation is the fourth step and one that is needed for two reasons: to ensure programs are effective and to demonstrate impact and inform decision-making at the Board level.

Integrating Mental Health into ESG Strategies and Organizational Impact

As a leader in sustainable finance, how do you see mental health fitting into the broader conversation around ESG? Do you think it should be given more attention alongside other social factors?

Erika Karp: The first thing to understand is that there is no such thing as “ESG Investing.” However, “ESG Analysis” is a critical discipline in the investment process. In fact, the most important thing to understand through this type of analysis is that we need to analyze which factors among those in the categories of “ESG” are the most material to corporate economic and financial outcomes, such as the costs to the healthcare system and lost productivity. The issue of mental health sits within each of the E, S, and G factors. Mental health factors are intertwined with society’s efforts to address climate impact, which in turn affects mental health outcomes. Regarding the S, that’s the most obvious of all. Governance plays a central role when it comes to corporations addressing all these material factors both in terms of risks and returns. Read more about the role of ESG analysis and how it should be applied to the investment process.

In your experience, what practical steps can organizations take to really understand the impact of their mental health initiatives? Are there specific approaches you’ve seen that truly capture how these programs make a difference in people’s lives?

Dr. Derek Yach: Many studies indicate that successful mental health programs increase workplace productivity and employee retention. They also tend to attract new staff at higher rates, show reductions in healthcare costs and measurable gains in employee wellbeing.

Investing in Scalable Solutions and Bridging Policy with Compassionate Care

You’ve emphasized the role of sustainable investment in driving positive change. How can investors support companies that prioritize mental health, and what kind of impact could that have on business performance and employee well-being?

Erika Karp: The first and most essential step is understanding the scope, magnitude, and urgency of the matter. The problem is the ability to scale solutions. At this point we have seen the world of philanthropy addressing the crisis. They can provide catalytic and first-loss capital to find opportunities and innovations. The other key groups right now are the impact investors, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. The challenge here is that aside from each of these leaders, we haven’t seen the way to really drive scale investments from the large institutions. And given the size of the problem, we must find a way to get impact at scale. So, this goes full circle back to understanding the system in which we operate. Once we better understand the infrastructure necessary to address access to services, available modalities for appropriate interventions, and cost-effectiveness, we can begin to truly inform corporations and institutional investors to help drive solutions.

You have seen firsthand how health policies can shape people’s lives. What personal experiences or moments have influenced your views on the importance of mental health in the workplace?

Dr. Derek Yach: Twenty-five years ago, a colleague of mine committed suicide while working at WHO. She was known to have struggled with depression and was working in a high stress environment. Her death coincided with the release of our first global report on mental health. Her death laid bare the harsh reality of how many levels of prevention and care in the workplace failed her. The UN system rarely addresses mental health despite many staff being on the front end of the world’s worst crises that impede population mental health and highlight the need for coherence between what appears in lofty policy documents and the delivery of pragmatic and compassionate care.

To know more about our report exploring the magnitude of the global mental health crisis, contact: