atai Life Sciences, the psychedelic medicine industry’s market cap leader, has just announced the launch of its new philanthropic program, atai Impact.
According to the company’s press release, atai Impact has been developed “to harness the power of innovative mental health approaches for positive social change, committed to advancing education, expanding access and supporting the wider ecosystem.”
See this company video explaining the goals and vision of atai Impact:
We believe more needs to be done to tackle the escalating mental health crisis and to help achieve our vision. So, today we proudly launch atai Impact, our new philanthropic program to foster advances in #education, #access & #ecosystem in #mentalhealth.https://t.co/f0bQcdVAWC pic.twitter.com/9OWNuTTzZ1
— atai Life Sciences (@atai_life) October 19, 2021
And see below for more information on the program (reproduced from the company’s press release):
Its establishment is based on atai Life Sciences’ position that, while a for-profit model is the swiftest and most robust means of unlocking new modalities for patients in need, this model alone cannot address all aspects of the escalating global mental crisis.
Therefore, atai Life Sciences believes having harmonization among commercial and non-profit entities is the ideal way forward. The initial focus of atai Impact will be on the psychedelic sector, given its emerging potential in tackling the growing mental health crisis.
Supporting and collaborating with nonprofits and institutions that share its vision of healing mental health disorders, atai Impact will operate across three central pillars:
- Education: to help destigmatize mental health, promote better understanding of the potential of psychedelics in mental health care, and foster the next generation of neuro-innovators.
- Access: to support equal access to innovative and effective mental health support, for everyone, everywhere, regardless of geography or demographics.
- Ecosystem: to contribute to the sustainability of diverse stakeholder communities and environments, including indigenous resources.
“The launch of atai Impact is a very proud moment for everyone at atai Life Sciences and for me, personally. While we believe a for-profit model is the best way to get new treatments to patients in need, not all aspects of the global mental health crisis can be effectively addressed by this model alone,” said Florian Brand, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of atai Life Sciences.
“I’ve been moved by the huge volume of support, internally and externally, that we have had in bringing atai Impact to life and by the commitment of so many of our staff, founders and investors who’ve already joined me in contributing a portion of their own company equity to this important program. We are in active discussions with multiple stakeholders towards meaningful initiatives that we believe can help make a real difference to the future of psychedelic medicine and mental health care worldwide.”
The atai Impact program will be initially funded by 1% of the gross proceeds from atai Life Sciences’ June 2021 Initial Public Offering (NASDAQ) and founders’ contributions. In addition, atai Life Sciences has created a Volunteer Paid Time Off Policy, equal to 1% of employees’ time, and is working with the Equity for Impact initiative to encourage employees and investors to donate a portion of their equity to charitable endeavors.
Want to learn more about atai? See our company profile here.
