Who We Are
WFMH Board Candidates for Election
2025-2027
Aly Mohamed Ahmed Salama
Country: United Arab Emirates
Region: Eastern Mediterranean
Nominator: Nasser Loza
Candidate 1000 word statement
At the age of 19, I was first diagnosed with Major Depression Disorder.
I was living more than 18 months with, as I understood it to be, an internal battle and my diagnosis provided me with the inertia to seek targeted help.
As a young Arab male, a former professional swimming champion, and an expat university student residing 10,000 kilometres away from family and cultural familiarity, this experience altered the course of my life.
I vowed that when I arrived at a place where I could adequately manage my mental health, I would dedicate myself to shifting my community’s perspective on mental health and the stigma that is associated with it, which was a trigger for me during my recovery.
My experience as a person with lived experience of mental illness has changed my perception on how eastern society handles such conditions. Experiencing first hand stigma from family members, friends and members of my professional network opened my eyes to the importance of the work that must lie ahead. Today, it’s a personal mission of mine in every aspect of my life to address this matter head-on.
Important conversations around suicide prevention and rising challenges around youth mental health are imperative to create the monumental change we’d like to see in a future where mental health is given equal importance and priority to physical health.
I live with tendencies towards conditions that need to be seen in a normalised manner. That’s a lifelong journey that many others don’t have the privilege to understand due to the current state of stigma in our society.
That is the basis of my passion and interest for serving on the board of the WFMH.
Today, 7 years later, I have grown my outreach efforts by founding the Eastern Mediterranean’s first online mental health magazine, EMPWR MAG, which was recognized as one of Harvard’s Top 7 most impactful social initiatives from the region, in 2019. During that summer I also received an opportunity to leverage my social media platform, which has a reach of more than 2 million people to speak at the World Health Organization. Speaking to more than 99 Arab journalists, I told my story and appealed to their resources in order to help shift the narrative countering the stigma around mental health and substance abuse in mainstream media.
As a public speaker on youth mental health, I have had the opportunity to increase my reach and share my story many international stages such as International Youth Day at the United Nations in Egypt, (International Organization for Migration) sharing my immigrant experiences in Canada, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Arab conference, highlighting the importance of mental health in entrepreneurship. More than 80% of entrepreneurs struggle with mental health issues, due to pressures that are present during the life cycle of establishing a start-up. I discovered that there was a pivotal gap in data surrounding mental health in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, within the Eastern Mediterranean’s region. I saw this as an opportunity to propose and lead a study. Working with Microsoft for Start-ups, we conducted the region’s first ever mental health study: “The impact of COVID-19 on the state of mental health & wellbeing of Entrepreneurs in the MENA Region.” Our study successfully gathered data to better understand the challenges entrepreneurs face and found effective solutions for policymakers to pursue.
Today, I am actively consulting with government entities/officials and non-profits such as the Dubai Police and the Canadian Mental Health Association to encourage the implementation of effective strategies for youth engagement, via digital tools. Given my social media and digital media expertise, I would be more than happy to impart my resources and skills to grow initiatives of the WFMH.
I also sit on the board of assembly of RIVET.ORG, an social non profit that channels the collective economic power of young consumers to fund their work as social innovators, empowering youth in underdeveloped nations with micro-grants to execute projects.
With over 20 million views across my channel, in only two years, I host, produce and manage a podcast on mental health called “Empathy Always Wins” amassing 170,000 downloads to date. I could significantly contribute to the digital amplification of the federation’s mandates across all digital platforms. I interpret this year’s WMHD 2021 theme: “Mental Health in An Unequal World,” as affordability and accessibility surrounding mental health resources, for communities and individuals most at risk. An example I’ve acted on that would be the Canadian federal government grant I was awarded in July 2020 to host “EMPWRNG MNDS”, Canada’s Online COVID-19 Relief Youth Mental Health Conference, where 300 youth attended including the attendance of Canada’s Minister of Youth, Diversity & Inclusion, Bardish Chagger and Canada’s Minister of Transport, Omar AlGhabra.
Moreover, I am trained and certified in mental health first aid by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. I am able to leverage my understanding of mental health emergencies, many of which have involved incidents of youth in our minority communities. My interests specifically lie within advancing the rights of people with psychological challenges in the world, particularly representing Arabs.
I believe being a board of director at the WFMH is a natural partnership.
I am known in the EMRO region to be a mental health advocate, who leverages technology and social media influencers & platforms to act as a liaison between and different age and cultural groups with respect to gaps in understanding surrounding awareness and mental health.
I believe that through increased awareness efforts, we will be able to help people living with mental illness receive the aid that they are entitled to without experiencing stigma and/or discrimination.
Candidate additional statement if provided