You’re invited to join Gen Collective and corporate sponsor Commonwealth Bank for breakfast this June as we hear from Joel Pilgrim and break down the stigma of Mental Health. This month we are asking you to bring along a male colleague or friend too.
Date | Friday 16 June, 2017
Time | 7:00am
Venue | Dixon Park Surf Club, 20 Ocean St, Merewether
Tickets | $40 + booking fee Gen Collective Members, $45 + booking fee non-members
Ticket sales close: Friday 9th June 2017
Meet Joel Pilgrim...
Joel Pilgrim is a mental health Occupational Therapist with clinical experience working with youth and adults at risk and diagnosed with mental health issues. Joel specialised in early psychosis at a leading mental health centre in Sydney, Australia, where his passion for innovating in the mental health space was born. Joel went on to work with OneWave, an organisation raising awareness for mental health through surfing and saltwater therapy. Joel founded the One Wave Surfing Experience, an eight-week program which aims to support people diagnosed with mental health issues. The learn-to-surf program focuses on functional recovery and acts as a complementary addition to the sometimes intimidating clinical setting of mental health services.
The rapid growth of the program around Australia led Joel to found the Waves of Wellness Foundation, where he is currently CEO and managing director. Also known as the WOW Foundation, Joel and his team are pioneering surf therapy intervention in mental health with a vision to roll out international programs. The Waves of Wellness Foundation strives to bring the WOW factor to the field of mental health services, breaking down the stigma and turning traditional support on its head around the world.
All seriousness aside, Joel is a keen surfer and advocate for the freedom and healing abilities of nature and the outdoors. You’ll usually find him up at the crack of dawn getting his own dose of saltwater therapy with his twin brother, before heading to the office. Joel has written a children’s book to help people from a young age think about mental health differently, which simultaneously contented his inner child. Stand Up Stand Out was released in March this year.