Modern Health Announces Parenting Expert Emily Oster and Television Personality Karamo As Keynote Speakers At Elevate Conference

Elevate Brings Together Thousands of HR & Benefits Professionals To Discuss The Most Pressing Topics In Workplace Mental Health

Modern Health, a leading global workplace mental health platform, today announced renowned economist, bestselling author, and parenting expert Emily Oster and Emmy-nominated television personality, culture expert, and activist Karamo as keynote speakers at its third-annual conference, Elevate, taking place virtually on October 4, 2023. Oster and Karamo will join Elevate’s lineup of mental health experts, practitioners, healthcare consultants, and advocates, which also includes HR and benefits specialists from companies including Intel, RSM, Splunk, Stitch Fix, Proofpoint, Medallia, and more.

The theme for Elevate 2023 is “Inspiring Meaningful Change In Uncertain Times,” with impactful conversations and interactive sessions covering everything from fostering resilience during times of crisis to measuring the impact of supporting employees to equitable access across borders. We’ll discover the latest clinical research, customer case studies, future-gazing insights, and, most importantly, personal stories, learnings, and perspectives. Industry experts will explore the future with topics like AI and its impact on the healthcare industry, and clinical psychologists will discuss high-acuity issues such as addressing substance use concerns in the workplace and harnessing neurodiversity.

“We are at a turning point in workplace well-being accelerated by a global mental health crisis - most notably with our youth, escalating health care costs, and a desire from business leaders to support their workforce as people, not just employees,” comments Alyson Watson, founder, and CEO of Modern Health. “These compounding factors are creating a catalyst for change, and this year at Elevate, we are honored to bring together experts from around the world to join us in our mission of making mental health a strength and priority for all.”

Elevate 2023 will kick off with a candid conversation between Alyson Watson, CEO of Modern Health and Emmy-nominated host and Culture Expert on Netflix’s international hit series Queer Eye, Karamo. An author, actor, and activist, Karamo began his career in 2004 on the MTV reality show The Real World: Philadelphia, becoming the second openly gay black man cast on a reality show. Last year, Karamo began hosting his own talk show for NBCUniversal and continues to advocate for the LGBTQI+ community and their allies. Karamo reveals his own personal mental health journey of overcoming his insecurities and showing up as his authentic self, his experience with toxic masculinity, his self-care habits for navigating difficult times, and the lessons he’s learned from parenting.

“Growing up Black, growing up gay, having immigrant parents, also identifying as a Christian, some of these things contradict how I walk through the world in other people’s eyes, and so I would always feel like I had to hide a certain part of who I was,” comments Karamo. “I realized that the reason I didn’t show up with all of my identities was because I hadn’t worked on my self-esteem. I wasn’t telling myself that I was enough, that who I was and the things that I experienced actually gave me the tools to be more successful. I realized that even when I started to move into corporate America, the more I showed up just as me and didn’t hide anything is when I would always see success. Each of us has qualities about us that make us special, that nobody else can bring into a room, and the minute you can tap into those things, you soar because you’re not holding yourself back.”

The final keynote at Elevate features Emily Oster, a Professor of Economics at Brown University, bestselling author of Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and The Family Firm, and founder of ParentData.org - a website and weekly newsletter on data, pregnancy, young kids, and parenting. Oster holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard and, prior to being at Brown, was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Oster has established herself as one of America’s most popular parenting experts and an authority in data, earning her place on last year’s Time’s 100 Most Influential People list. During her keynote, moderated by Modern Health CEO Alyson Watson, Oster will discuss the youth mental health crisis, share insights on the “motherhood penalty” and gender equality in the workplace, the concept of “Total Responsibility Transfer,” and opinions on navigating social media.

“If there was one thing I could encourage employers across the US to prioritize right now to support their workforce, especially working parents, it would be flexible leave time. I would encourage employers to think about how they can put in structures that allow parents the flexible time they need,” comments Emily Oster. “I think about this in two ways, one is a flexible time within the day. The recognition that, particularly when your kids are small, some hours of the day are really, really valuable, and that’s something employees really value. Secondly, recognizing that people’s kids get sick, childcare solutions fall apart, and how can we help parents get from birth to kind of age 10 in a way that they’ve stayed engaged with their careers, but they felt like they’ve been supported in doing both of these things at the same time. This feels to me like a win in the sense that there are really good people, both men and women, who would value this aspect, and if you have this approach in your company, you're getting the best people.”

Throughout the one-day virtual conference, self-care will be at the top of the agenda, with drop-in guided meditation sessions, including meditations narrated by Modern Health’s Chief Community Health Advocate and tennis champion Naomi Osaka. Attendees will also be able to experience Modern Health’s award-nominated group sessions, Circles, providing first-hand experience of the modalities of care being utilized to positively impact mental health at organizations around the world.

The full agenda and registration details are available here.

About Modern Health

Modern Health is a comprehensive global mental health solution offering employees access to one-on-one, group, and self-serve digital resources for their emotional, professional, social, financial, and physical well-being needs - all within a single platform. Modern Health supports members with a global network of more than 86,000 licensed therapists and certified coaches in over 200 countries and 80+ languages. Whether someone wants to proactively manage stress or treat depression, Modern Health guides people to the right care at the right time. Modern Health empowers companies to help all their employees be the best version of themselves and believes in meeting people wherever they are in their mental health journey.

Modern Health is backed by investors like Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, John Doerr, Y Combinator, and Battery Ventures and raised more than $170 million in less than two years making Modern Health the fastest entirely female-founded company in the U.S. to reach Unicorn status.

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