Creating a Stigma-Free Mental Health Environment for Employees

Tara Davis is Director of Staff Well-Being and Engagement at the American Psychological Association, headquartered in Washington, D.C. In this role, she strategically produces programs, activities and communications that energize employees and connect their work to the organization’s mission, increase satisfaction and fulfillment in the workplace, and grow staff commitment to the organization. With more than a decade of experience utilizing research and measurement to cultivate employees to embrace healthier, more meaningful lives at work, Davis is a thought leader in employee well-being, psychologically healthy workplaces, employee engagement, internal communications and meaningful experience design. Davis has shared her expertise with National Public Radio, American Society of Association Executives, Grant Professionals Association, Furman University, Fundraising HayDay podcast, and D.C. Public Schools, among other organizations. In 2014, The Washington Post awarded the APA a Top Workplace Award, In 2018, Davis was awarded a Thoth Award from the Public Relations Society of America and the Raymond D. Fowler Award, the most prestigious employee honor at APA.

Jessica (Jess) Smith is an international Human Resources (HR) executive who has grown her career in tech, including Amazon.com, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Meta. With a degree in finance from Hampton University and a bi-lingual MBA (English/Spanish) from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Smith’s data driven approach to HR and builder mentality have helped her land roles that range from standing up Talent Intelligence functions, solving strategic internal talent movement, using data analytics to help plan for the workforce of the future, and developing strategies on how to recruit and retain diverse talent. In her most recent corporate role as Director, Global Diversity and Program Experiences at Meta, Smith and her team inspired over 18K diverse students to major in computer science or pursue careers in tech via early in career diversity, equity, and inclusion programming. She also led Employee Experience & Culture for these 6100+ employees. Using her lessons learned from the tech industry and her passion around mental health in the workplace, Smith launched her first start up in Jan 2023, Zumba Fitness ATX, a mobile cardio fitness business that provides positive employee engagement and mental health programming for Corporates via group fitness activities. In her free time, Smith writes a blog, “Leadership Lessons from Normal Life” where she shares lessons about careers, work, and finding the balance between work and life to her 1K+ subscribers.  Smith is a working mother of two little ones living in Austin, Texas.

Sheila Collins is a lead communications advisor for Lockheed Martin’s Rotary and Missions Systems (RMS), the largest business area at among the world’s largest aerospace and defense contractor. Currently, Collins handles internal communications for the RMS Human Resources organization, including culture and change management, as part of the Employee and Executive Communications team. In this role, she’s advanced the organization’s Mission First culture and implemented the RMS Positive Mental Health Campaign to promote conversation and destigmatize mental health. The campaign, launched in 2018, has focused on building an employee-led dialogue to raise awareness, educate about the company’s available resources, and encourage the use of those resources. In 2021, employee use of promoted resources increased by 400 percent. She has earned multiple awards for communications excellence and has been recognized among the top one percent of employees at Lockheed Martin.