In September 2022, a group of leaders from companies including BHP, BlackRock, BP, Citi, DLA Piper, Interbrand, McKinsey Health Institute, Northern Trust and Unilever convened at BNY Mellon in New York to initiate a US chapter of MindForward Alliance.
The group discussed the challenges and opportunities that workplaces and leaders face in the US. No single company possesses all the solutions for addressing the current workplace mental health challenges; that's why MindForward Alliance is formally establishing a US network of businesses to collaborate and drive change, which will be chaired by Kumar Kymal. Andrea Blackman will take on the position of vice-chair as a rotating role.
"I am delighted to serve as Chair of the new MindForward Alliance US chapter; MindForward Alliance’s vision aligns with my belief that every workplace should enhance the mental health of its employees. MindForward Alliance's commitment to partnering with businesses to support and protect the mental wellbeing of their employees is a necessity in today's world.
By bringing together leaders at the crossroads of business, mental health, and wellbeing, we have the unique opportunity to create positive change. When we foster open collaboration and share our collective wisdom, we unlock the potential for better, more sustainable mental health outcomes for countless individuals and society. Together, we can make a profound impact on the way we approach mental health in the workplace and beyond. One valuable outcome is its commercial impact - better mental health drives higher employee engagement, improved productivity and company growth." Kumar Kymal, Chair, MindForward Alliance US
Kumar is an innovative and business-focused HR leader who sees wellbeing and workplace mental health as vital to company growth and vibrant cultures. He brings a breadth of global experiences from large blue-chip companies including Bank of New York Mellon, Thomson Reuters, BlackBerry, Nokia and Cisco. He has lived and worked in the UK, Europe, Canada and the US, working in Senior Global Reward and HRBP roles across multiple industries.
Kumar is active in the HR community and served as a non-executive Board Member of World at Work from 2012-20, on I4CP’s Reward Board, Conference Board’s Executive Compensation Council and on Executive Networks – Global Total Rewards Network. He is a founding member of Cornell's Executive Forum - Institute for Compensation Studies. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of topics from Agile Practices, Reward, Wellbeing, Personal Resilience, Recognition, to the Future of Work in various forums.
MindForward Alliance is a global not for profit organisation that is transforming workplace mental health. Global CEO of the Alliance, Poppy Jaman OBE said:
“We are in a mental health crisis, which both significantly affects and is also affected by business. Tackling this crisis demands change, and our membership community are leading the way in taking action. Our growth in the US market is the result of courageous leaders like Kumar stepping in to drive change, recognising the unique qualities of US businesses.
We have achieved a lot, but we all know there is so much more that we need to do. In the last decade we have galvanised the power of the workplace to protect, support and create mental health for their people, and the resulting ripple effect on societies. I am grateful to Kumar for stepping into this role and excited to continuing to work with him and the US steering group to create a value proposition that is relevant and nuanced for the businesses in the US.”