Michael Pietrus

Director of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s international award-winning anti-stigma initiative Opening Minds. In February 2015, Opening Minds received the Innovator Award from the organizers of the 7th Together Against Stigma Conference in San Francisco as the “…program which creates a major impact through new approaches that inspire new possibilities and/or disrupts prevailing views.” He is also the Director of Mental Health First Aid Canada. Under Micheal’s leadership, the Commission launched Opening Minds, its anti-stigma/anti-discrimination initiative in 2009, which is the largest systematic effort to reduce the stigma of mental illness in Canadian history. He has presented on his team’s research and anti-stigma and training programs at conferences in Canada, U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia. Micheal is a co-founder and co-chair of the Global Anti-stigma Alliance, which is composed of 29 leaders and experts in the mental health field, representing 25 organizations across 14 countries working to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.