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Suzanne co-founded The Yellow Tulip Project with her daughter Julia in 2016. She currently serves as the Director of Global Initiatives, on the YTP Board of Directors and as an advisor to YTP’s special projects including the I Am More: Facing Stigma and Young Men Moving Mountains exhibits, Storytelling Alchemy and other community partnerships. She is an out of the box thinker and a creator who loves working on projects that make a positive impact on this messy but beautiful world.

She served as YTP’s Executive Director from its creation until June 2023. Prior to her work as a mental health activist, Suzanne has over 30 years of experience in building understanding and cross-cultural awareness as an adjunct professor, principal of an intercultural consulting company and a facilitator. She has a B.A. in Asian Studies from Bowdoin College, an MA in Chinese Politics from the School of Oriental & African Studies in London and is currently pursuing a masters in Global Mental Health from the University of Edinburgh. She looks forward to combining her background and experiences in cross-cultural understanding with mental health activism. There she will be exploring stigma across cultures and working globally to expand YTP’s youth driven, community focused message of hope and stigma reduction. She loves sharing her story and the story of YTP and believes in the simple and compelling message of YTP and wants to spread it both nationally and internationally since mental illness impacts one in five people worldwide. She is the recipient of The New England Patriots Foundation Myra Kraft Community Volunteer

Award, United Way of Southern Maine Individual Advocate Award and the Maine Biz NEXT Award recognized as one of seven individuals who are changing Maine’s economy and making a significant impact in their industry.

Dr Karli Montague-Cardoso is the Executive Editor of PLOS Mental Health – an open-access journal, which aims to provide a platform for lived experience and to play a role in tackling inequalities and adversity when it comes to mental health access globally. Before being an Editor, Karli was a neuroscientist with 15 years of experience in academic and pre-clinical research. She received both her BSc and PhD in Neuroscience at University College London before completing two postdoctoral positions at King’s College London in Neurobiology and Neuroimmunology. She initially gained editorial experience at Springer Nature and, prior to joining PLOS, was the Deputy Editor at Communications Biology where she oversaw the development and training of the journal’s editorial board and handled neuroscience submissions. Karli was also the Consulting Editor for mental health content at Communications Medicine and the Advisory Editor for npj Aging.

In addition, she carried out a secondment at Nature Neuroscience and led the Springer Nature Neuroscience Editorial Community for over 2 years. Karli has a keen interest in advancing our understanding of mental health conditions, reducing associated stigma, advocacy, and bringing lived experience to the publishing industry. At Springer Nature, she led the UK Wellbeing staff network, was a co-chair of the Springer Nature Disability & Neurodiversity Network and a member of the company’s SDG3 (UN Sustainability Goal 3) mental health steering group. Karli has also started up staff well-being networks at PLOS and since October 2024, has been a UK representative for av.es mental health, which is a global, peer-led network that aims to build capacity among people with lived experience of a mental health condition through empowerment, peer-to-peer mentorship and peer support. Within the network, she has served time as the European Chair. Karli also has a counseling diploma and is Mental

Health First Aid trained. Overall, she aims to bring together her lived experience and her research and publishing expertise to help tackle the global mental health crisis.

Dr. Jennifer Namusobya is a distinguished public health physician with over 25 years of leadership in designing, implementing, and evaluating health programs across Uganda. She has extensive expertise in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, non-communicable diseases, and mental health integration.

Her career highlights include ensuring treatment continuity for over 540,000 people living with HIV, leading seamless program transitions in Uganda’s hardest-to-reach regions, and receiving multiple USAID Mission Honor Awards for excellence in health systems strengthening and patient-centered care.

Passionate about sustainable health outcomes, Dr. Namusobya has worked with PEPFAR, USAID, CDC, and Uganda’s Ministry of Health to shape national policies, strengthen local institutions, and improve community health systems.

Joseph Ddiba is a passionate advocate for children’s rights, a social entrepreneur, and an experienced nonprofit leader with over a decade of service to vulnerable and underserved communities. He is the Founder and Executive Director of BaNgaAfayo Initiative Uganda (www.bangaafayo.org) and Truth Design Academy (www.truth.ac.ug), organizations that have empowered hundreds of children, and young people from low income families through access to quality education, mental health support, sporting opportunities, and vocational training.

With a background in Computer Science from Nkumba University and extensive lived experience working directly with children, youth, and women facing multiple barriers—including poverty, HIV, and mental health challenges—Joseph has cultivated a deep understanding of the intersection between social exclusion and mental well-being. His leadership at BaNgaAfayo Initiative Uganda has been instrumental in addressing mental health stigma in rural communities, where he has championed programs that integrate psychosocial support, peer education, and resilience- building into education and livelihood initiatives.

As a board member of Psychiki Ygeia Foundation Uganda, Joseph brings the strategic insight of a nonprofit founder, the vision of a social entrepreneur, and the practical knowledge of leading community-based interventions. He adds value through his proven track record in scaling grassroots initiatives, mobilizing resources, building strong community networks, and creating sustainable, youth-centered programs. Joseph’s leadership ensures that the Foundation’s mission to create stigma-free communities where individuals can freely seek mental health services is translated into real, lasting impact.

Prof. Dr. Christian Beste is a cognitive neuroscientist whose work is driven by a deep commitment to improving mental health care and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health conditions. As Professor for Cognitive Neurophysiology at TU Dresden and Director of the University Neuropsychology Centre (UNC), he leads one of Germany’s most active research environments focused on understanding how the brain regulates actions, decision-making, and cognitive flexibility—and how these processes become disrupted in mental health conditions.
Christian’s academic path began with a degree in Psychology at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, followed by a PhD and habilitation in Cognitive Neuroscience. His scientific career has spanned leading research institutions in Germany, the UK, and China, including the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. He has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications and leads national and international initiatives that integrate cutting-edge EEG/MEG research, computational modeling, and clinical translation. His research programs address child and adolescent psychiatric conditions, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neurological diseases, always adopting a transdiagnostic lens to uncover the shared and unique mechanisms that shape mental well-being.
Throughout, his work has centered on a single goal: to understand the biological foundations of mental health in ways that can be used to empower individuals, families, and communities rather than alienate or stigmatize them.
As a Founding Section Editor of PLOS Mental Health (“Cognition & Mental Health”) and a contributor to its public-facing initiative The Bigger Picture, Christian promotes global mental health literacy, elevates early-career researchers, and builds bridges between scientific evidence, lived experience, and public understanding. He is also deeply invested in outreach and capacity building. Through theatre-based education, gamified psychoeducation for youth, and digital health tools co-developed with clinical partners, he works to make mental health knowledge accessible, relatable, and empowering.
His collaborations with digital health companies translate neuroscience into practical solutions that reduce barriers to care and support individuals in their everyday lives.
In his role as a PYFU advisory board member, Christian brings cognitive
neuroscience into advocacy and community action and strengthen the scientific
foundations of the organization’s fundraising efforts. His goal is to help ensure that mental health is understood as a universal, biologically grounded aspect of human functioning, and that this understanding supports dignity, empathy, and access to care. Through this work, he contributes to PYFU’s mission of building capacity and improving mental health systems, particularly in underserved regions where stronger scientific grounding can create lasting impact.