Form Founder Rob Stephenson recently had a fireside chat with Adrienne Everett, Enterprise Account Director for LinkedIn, about the inequity of wellbeing provision in the workplace, and society at large. 

Why is inclusion in the world of mental health so important to you?

As a black female in business, smashing the stigma associated with mental health has been very challenging for me. Culturally, growing up, I always felt the weight of needing to be strong – but everyone should be able to access mental health support, and to feel comfortable admitting when they need that help.

Only 1 in 3 black adults in the U.S. who need mental health care will receive it, compared to the U.S. average of 43%; often because of a lack of representation in the tools and the providers available. Market-leading wellbeing solutions are typically being used by white middle-class women, and whole elements of our society are being underserved or left behind.

It’s clear that there's inequity in the uptake of wellbeing solutions. Why do you think this is?

If we're being very specific to people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, I think one of the factors is accessibility. With the resources that do exist, we either don't know about them, don't have access to them, or we aren't in the conversations around why they're important.

I think another big factor is the stigma that's attached to mental health within our community. We’re always taught to be very strong, and those negative emotions that might come up are either rejected or hidden – rather than displayed publicly. This can create a whole other level of mental health challenges.

I think we are becoming more open to having these conversations, and understanding that everyone has mental health. 

When we think about wellbeing solutions, it can be hard to find things that feel relevant to our community, or ways to bring our community into the conversations. When the people who are creating these solutions don't have a lens towards how a woman of colour might be feeling, or the challenges that people from different backgrounds face, they’re always going to be weighted towards the majority. 

I think sometimes HR teams look at wellbeing solutions as a tick-box exercise, instead of really evaluating what will resonate with the full community.

You're very passionate about wellbeing, but specifically about the intersection between ethnicity and race, and feeling empowered to prioritise wellbeing in a workplace setting. Why do you think inequality might exist in the workplace?

I think there's a bit of an education gap at times. You can give everyone access to a resource, like a meditation app, but who is actually taking it up? Sometimes, the most important thing is simply checking in to see how people are feeling.

Meeting people where they are is super, super important. There isn't a one size fits all approach, because everyone is quite different. I have been very exposed to opportunities to invest in my mental health – with everything from yoga and meditation to sound baths and breath work, but these things might not be accessible to the next woman of colour.

I think it's just really understanding that we are all unique.

How do we unite in our uniqueness to transform how we think about mental health?

It's important to have resources that people can test, but a lot of organisations are looking for the one thing that everyone's going to engage with.  

Engagement grows over time when there’s an authentic effort to break the stigma, and to make sure everyone feels aligned in that mission. You can't just have a solution and not survey people to see how they’re feeling about it, and what they want and need. 

People need to be seeing emails hit their inbox every week, showcasing the mental health resources available to them. It’s also important to look at who is taking up these wellness benefits, and collect anonymised data around how people are engaging.

What do you see as the role of allies, specifically in terms of the wellbeing agenda and making a difference to this inequity we've been talking about?

I think it's education for one. If you come from a position of privilege and understanding available resources, how are you ensuring that your colleagues from different backgrounds have exposure to these resources, and that they know where they can share stories of their experience with mental health.

I think being empathetic and thinking about your position as an ally in terms of what you say to people – particularly around certain social situations that might be occurring in the world – is really important. 

I'll speak for all people of ethnically diverse backgrounds here and say that we appreciate allyship and empathy, especially when it comes from an educated space and a clear effort of trying to be a strong ally. When you represent the majority and you act on that representation, it makes us feel comfortable, and want to be a part of the journey within the workplace with you.

You kindly agreed to serve on the Advisory Board of Form for All. Why have you agreed to do that, and what do you hope we can achieve?

It's great that we're looking at making sure we have bespoke solutions available to people from different ethnic backgrounds, but I think what I'm most excited about from a Form for All perspective is that not everyone’s in the workforce. So that might be freelancers, self-employed people, caregivers, the unemployed – anyone who might be struggling with their mental health.

I'm really passionate about what we could be doing with Form for All, and how that might impact someone being able to enter the workplace

Find out more about Form for All.