MWA founder
Charlamagne Tha God
Multimedia mogul, Radio Hall of Fame inductee, bestselling author, and cultural architect Charlamagne tha God is host of the wildly popular nationally syndicated hit radio show The Breakfast Club. He frequently serves as a catalyzing leader at the forefront of the national mental health conversation, and his transparent disclosure of mental health issues combined with an incredibly pervasive media footprint have fissured the ground for the crucial guard-dropping discussions that are reshaping our societal landscape. Through the honest disclosing of his own mental health journey amid the loss of many close friends to suicide, Charlamagne has not only highlighted the devastations of untreated mental illness but has also become a lodestone drawing others to follow in his footsteps. “My founding of the Mental Wealth Alliance is the manifestation of a deeply personal vision,” says Charlamagne. “MWA is designed to proliferate pathways for addressing the severely unmet and underserved emotional needs of Black people worldwide to heal the pain that resides in the privacy of their hearts.”
Founding Members
Devi Brown
SPIRITUAL & WELLNESS EXPERT
Devi Brown serves as the Chief Impact Officer at Chopra Global and is the voice of daily meditation on the Chopra wellness app. A master well-being educator, author of Crystal Bliss, founder of Karma Bliss, host of The Black Effect Network podcast Dropping Gems, seasoned broadcaster, and multi-modality healing practitioner. Devi is devoted to spiritual connection meant to aid in the healing of intergenerational trauma and internal liberation. Her work is rooted in weaving ancient and modern practices into tangible healing tools that are in support of emotional growth and radical self-love.
Marvet Britto
THE BRITTO AGENCY
Marvet Britto founded The Britto Agency over 28 years ago and has built her award-winning namesake firm into a branding, communications, and marketing powerhouse. The Britto Agency is one of the nation’s largest, most influential, and longest operating Black-owned Public Relations and Brand Architecture firms, a global leader renowned for masterful category-vaulting brand development campaigns that elevate brands to category leadership and market dominance. A visionary global brand strategist culturally fluent in multigenerational and intersectional ideation and execution, Marvet has fostered long-standing client and agency relationships across her firm’s expansive orbit of individual and Fortune 500 brands, which include major corporations, iconic entertainers, celebrated politicians, superstar athletes, leading faith-based organizations, and exquisite Caribbean islands. In addition to being a Tony-nominated Broadway producer (The Trip to Bountiful, Romeo and Juliet, Eclipsed), she has served as a producer of critically acclaimed films, including The Woodsman and Shadowboxer. An expert in brand equity, development, and crisis communications, Marvet is often sought as a contributor on major news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, ABC, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Tim Shriver
BESTSELLING AUTHOR & FILM PRODUCER
Tim Shriver is the long-time Chairman of the Special Olympics, bestselling author, founding force of the social and emotional learning (SEL) movement, film producer, husband, and father. In 2018, he began asking new questions—how could the SEL teaching skills like empathy and self-awareness help the country? How could the example of the athletes of Special Olympics provide a model for a divided world? Hundreds of young people, faith leaders, educators, philosophers, scientists, activists, and political figures have joined the conversation. Together, they came to the conclusion that in spite of the divides, the world is hungry for ideas that unite. Thus, they founded UNITE, the collective for common purpose—crossing divides to address problems that can only be solved together. As the launch of UNITE neared, Covid-19 became a pandemic, and suddenly humanity’s interdependence and need for connection became the leading themes of human events. Seeing the need, the group agreed to start its work early, and The Call to Unite became project one.
MWA Staff
Dr. Alfiee
CHIEF MENTAL WELLNESS OFFICER
Charlamagne and the founders personally tapped mental health expert, psychologist, non-profit founder, and disparities scientist Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble to provide thought leadership and guidance as inaugural Chief Mental Wellness Officer (CMWO). Dr. Alfiee is an in-demand media contributor and keynote speaker with the unique ability to translate scientific knowledge into engaging and actionable ideas for the public. She has been featured in global media (e.g., CNN, National Press Foundation, PBS NewsHour, and NBC Nightly News), and is the founder of the AAKOMA Project, a nationally recognized mental health nonprofit focused on BIPOC teens and young adults. Dr. Alfiee is also active in public policy (supporting Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman on HR 5469 The 2019 Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act) and thought leadership in mental health (author of 2 books on BIPOC youth mental health and co-author of a national report on Black youth suicide prevention). She received her training at Howard University, New York University, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the Duke School of Medicine.
OUR VALUES
We are focused and committed to raising $100 million dollars to support MWA’s vision of treating10 million Black people.
In year one, MWA will leverage funds for grant making to: Thurgood Marshall Scholars/UNCF for students pursuing mental health careers; Black Men Heal and BEAM for provision of culturally competent mental health care.
MWA will also leverage funds to support passage of HR 5469 along with curriculum development for SEL in K-12.
PURPOSE
Charlamagne Tha God, the pioneering visionary behind MWA, has assembled the most notable experts and thought leaders in healthcare, business, government, technology, and education to transform the culture of mental health and bolster support for Black people and communities across the U.S.
With our collective resources, MWA will provide funding to train thousands of African Americans as mental health professionals across multiple disciplines (i.e., MWA Scholars) through generous scholarships supporting undergraduate through graduate and professional school training.
Undergirding all of these investments is a focus on advocacy for the enhancement and creation of public policy to support the eradication of mental health disparities in the U.S. (i.e., increasing access to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Mental Health Literacy (MHL) in K-12 across the country) and support of legislation that aligns with our proprietary pillars of impact for teaching, training, and treating.