Advancing Mental Health Equity: My Role as Ethnographer with the NYC Mental Health Collective
I’m excited to share a new chapter in both my professional journey and the mission of my business. We have officially joined the New York City Mental Health Collective as a proud member organization and co-sponsor. This coalition brings together diverse voices committed to reshaping how mental health is understood, supported, and accessed across New York City.
As part of this partnership, I’ve taken on the role of Ethnographer for the coalition — a position that aligns deeply with my training in community leadership and passion for ethical, participatory research.
Ethnography, at its core, is about listening. It’s about understanding communities on their own terms, and capturing the lived experiences that too often go unacknowledged in data-driven conversations about mental health. In a city as vibrant and complex as New York, the mental health landscape is shaped by many intersecting subcultures — from youth activists and peer counselors to clinicians, artists, mutual aid groups, and more.
My role is to develop methods for ethical observation and engagement that reflect the real stories and struggles of these communities. That includes drafting a data plan that honors community-informed practices, emphasizes cultural competence, and ensures privacy, agency, and dignity for those who share their experiences.
This is not research for research’s sake — it’s research in service of action. By co-creating knowledge with community members and mental health advocates, we aim to inform better programming, stronger partnerships, and more inclusive policy recommendations.
Community organizing plays a central part in this work. As both a business leader and ethnographer, I’m leveraging my experience in leadership development, social impact strategy, and grassroots engagement to help the coalition grow in ways that are sustainable, equitable, and driven by community needs.
I’m proud to stand alongside organizations and individuals who are reimagining mental health from the ground up. And I look forward to sharing more updates, stories, and findings as this work evolves.
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