I believe mental health is the most important health – and I say that with the full weight of lived experience. This belief isn’t just professional or philosophical. It’s personal. It’s in my bones.

Today, I serve as President and CEO of The Royal, one of Canada’s leading mental health and addiction hospitals. But my mission didn’t begin in a boardroom. It began in grief.

I was 10 years old when my mother, Joan, died by suicide. She was a mother of four, including twin girls, who struggled silently with what we now recognize as treatment-resistant depression. At the time, she was prescribed multiple medications, but the exhaustion and despair never lifted. She lived with stigma, isolation, and a lack of understanding that still echoes too loudly in society today. We knew something was wrong, but no one talked about it. No one had the words – or the tools – to help.

And then, just like that, she was gone.

That kind of loss changes you forever. For me, it became a guiding force. I knew – even then – that I would spend my life working to ensure no other child had to lose a parent to an illness that could, and should, be treated with the same urgency and innovation as any physical health condition. I often ask myself, “How have we made so little progress in the last 40 years?” And I carry that question into every room I enter, determined to answer it through action.

My journey led me into social work, where I built a meaningful career helping others navigate their mental health challenges. But for me, it wasn’t enough to care. I wanted to change the system itself. That desire led me to The Royal.

What drew me to The Royal was more than its reputation. It was its purpose: reclaiming lives from mental illness and addiction through treatment, research, and education. Here, I see not just a hospital, but a catalyst for transformation.

This is a place where some of the brightest minds in mental health are working on the frontlines of innovation – developing suicide biomarkers, launching pioneering clinical trials, and bringing new treatments to Canada for the very first time. At The Royal, research and care don’t live in silos. They’re integrated. Our patients benefit directly from discoveries happening in-house, and our researchers are inspired every day by the people they serve.

That model, to me, is the key to closing the mental health gap – a gap that currently leaves 14 out of 15 people without the care they need. This isn’t because we lack compassion, but because of decades of stigma and underfunding. If we’re going to truly move forward, we need to invest in science, in systems, and in solutions that work.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing. The Royal is home to Canada’s foremost mental health research institute, led by trailblazers like Dr. Florence Dzierszinski. Together, we are redefining what specialized care can be: more personalized, more accessible, and more grounded in evidence than ever before.

Still, I often say, what we know about the human brain is far outweighed by what we don’t. Compared to conditions like cancer or heart disease, we are decades behind in our understanding of mental illness. And yet, by 2030, depression is expected to be the leading global health crisis.

That sense of urgency is what drives me every day.

I can’t help but wonder – what if my mom had access to the kinds of treatments we’re developing now at The Royal? What if her suffering could have been eased, her story
rewritten?

Those “what ifs” have become a rallying cry – not just for me, but for everyone at The Royal. They are at the heart of our bold and unapologetically hopeful vision: lives reclaimed from mental illness and addiction.

That vision is now embedded in our new mission: to advance specialized care and strengthen our region’s capacity to help people with mental illness and addiction through treatment, research, and education.

But I know this work can’t be done alone.

It’s not enough to be passionate. We need partners, advocates, and champions. We need you. To invest in research. To support education. To expand care. To help us save lives.

Because in the end, my story isn’t just about loss. It’s about hope. It’s about leadership rooted in lived experience. It’s about a hospital that refuses to accept the status quo.

And it’s about building a future where fewer children grow up wondering what might have been – because the care their families need is finally within reach.