bold idea
Expand opportunities in all aspects of life for Kenyan people with psychosocial disabilities by creating a platform that provides access to professional help, employment opportunities, and peer-led advocacy efforts.
organization overview
Psychiatric Disability Organization runs a person-centered mental health care model that combines technological innovation and community-based psychosocial support. Based in Kenya, it trains and deploys a network of peers who are the trusted sources of lay services and referrals. They can instantly refer patients to specialists through telepsychiatry, enabling underserved communities to access affordable, high-quality services. The goal is to ensure every human being going through distress can access help and recover in dignity to lead a productive and fulfilling life, their social status notwithstanding.
Personal Bio
Iregi Mwenja, founder and CEO of Psychiatric Disability Organization (PDO), was diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder as an adult. After dealing with his growing mental health challenges, Iregi returned to his community to establish PDO. He is a 2021 winner of the National Diversity and Inclusion Awards & Recognitions (DIAR Awards), was included in the 2021 D-30 Disability Impact List, and was selected for a Solver team as part of 2021 MIT Solve’s Global Challenges. He is an Acumen Fellow, a Beahrs Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service MENTOR Fellow, a Kinship Fellow, and a member of the Advisory Board of the U.S.-based Generation Mental Health (GenMH). He was a Mental Health Speaker at the 43rd UNAIDS Board meeting in Geneva. He is a contributing author to the book Mental Health, Legal Capacity, and Human Rights edited by Harvard Medical School and published by Cambridge University Press. He divides his time between mentorship, training, consulting, and disability rights advocacy.
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