Shayni Geffen

Shayni Geffen is a public mental health advocate, researcher and practitioner with 5+ years of experience in supporting community-based organisations in lower-resourced settings to enhance the mental wellbeing of the populations they serve. She strives to improve access to quality mental healthcare services, especially among young people. Currently, Shayni works as the Project Leader of Advocacy and Awareness at The South African Federation for Mental Health, advocating for the implementation of accessible evidence-based mental health services at a population level.  Shayni’s leadership efforts in the development sector in South Africa were affirmed when selected as a 2018/2019 Global Health Corps Fellow and a 2019/2020 Chevening Fellow to pursue an MSc in Global Mental Health at King's College London and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She was awarded the prestigious Chesmal Siriwardhana award in 2021 from LSHTM.