Our Story

The world is facing a growing wave of mental distress. By 2030, mental health conditions will be the leading cause of disability worldwide.

The current consensus is that more innovation and fresh ideas are needed to fix this problem.

We Disagree.

We believe many of the solutions are already out there. There are excellent initiatives working to improve mental health in communities around the world.

The problem is, they don’t get the visibility and resources they need to sustain and grow. The expertise and insight of local initiatives too often goes unrecognised and unsupported.

The current funding system works for some kinds of organisation – those that are large, professionalised and research-based – but it doesn’t work for others – those that are small, localised, user-led or volunteer-driven. This has created a gap in the funding landscape of global mental health.

We created Ember to fill this gap.

Ember finds, mentors and funds excellent community-based initiatives in low-resource settings.

Our mission is to support a diverse, inclusive ecosystem of mental health care to grow and thrive worldwide, so that everyone can access the help they need, where they are, in ways that work for them.

Our Process