The India Mental Health Alliance (IMHA) has announced that it has crossed 300 member organizations across 30 states and union territories, marking a significant milestone for India’s evolving mental health ecosystem.
More than a growth milestone, the development reflects a broader shift across stakeholders towards greater collaboration, shared learning, and coordinated action for mental health, which has long operated in fragmented silos.
IMHA was established on the belief that meaningful progress in mental healthcare requires bringing clinical and lived experience expertise together; aided by resource mobilization from philanthropy, government and the private sector collectively.
Neha Kirpal, co-Founder, IMHA, said, “Reaching 300 members is significant because of what it makes possible for everyone. When cross-sectoral organizations have a shared alliance to connect, share on-ground learnings across their cultural contexts, and build capacities together; the entire ecosystem becomes stronger and more effective. IMHA’s role has been to act as a catalyst and facilitator, creating the possibilities for partnerships, and pathways that enable knowledge, expertise, and support to flow more freely across the nation. This kind of collaborative infrastructure is essential to move mental health from the margins to the mainstream as a developmental priority in our journey towards Viksit Bharat.”
Over the past year, this vision has translated into a focused effort to – Connect, Convene, Collaborate, and build Capacity across the mental health ecosystem. IMHA’s key initiatives towards these goals in this past year have included 00 A national member directory with QR-enabled discoverability tools for all members, funders and public institutions to connect with organizations from across India; Active digital communities, including an active nationwide WhatsApp group; and Ongoing member engagement across geographies with regional meet ups.
Building members’ capacities through monthly curated sessions and consultations with global experts; themes include organizational strengthening, youth mental health, lived experience expertise, public health integration, cross-sector programming, and engagement with funders and government
Together, these efforts are helping organizations discover one another, exchange knowledge, and collaborate more effectively across the country.
Building on these connections, IMHA has also prioritized convening as a core pillar of ecosystem-building by creating spaces for organizations to come together, exchange ideas, and forge partnerships.
