Alisa Simon – Executive Vice President, Chief Youth and Innovation Officer, Kids Help Phone
You will not find a more passionate non-profit executive candidate who is focused on driving transformation for youth mental health through digital health solutions.
Alisa has enabled exponential growth and ensured that Kids Help Phone will always be there for the people of Canada – she heads up all clinical services, service programs and innovation, as well as our joint venture partnership Wellness Together Canada, launched by the Government of Canada.
Alisa was integral in changing the future of Kids Help Phone, through launching Canada’s first national texting service. The success of this service led to the development of the Innovation Imperative –which radically shifted the future of the organization, focusing on using innovation, technology and data to meet their mission. As a result of this initiative, which I was able to collaborate closely with Alisa on, Kids Help Phone continues to create impact with the insight of using technology to meet the evolving demands of our youth’s mental health needs.
She continues to present new ways to service youth and question how we as an organization can continue to do better. She led the charge in revolutionizing kidshelpphone.ca, our ‘primary’ frontdoor to service users, donors, volunteers, caring adults, media, and researchers seeking the voice of Youth Mental Health in Canada. This vision recognized the value of feedback throughout the process, involving the input of internal and external groups, including over 1,000 surveyed youth, staff, clinicians and service providers.
Alisa understands that support to all young people across Canada requires an innovative and inclusive approach and that includes supporting Indigenous youth and driving our commitment to reconciliation. As Kids Help Phone’s Executive Vice President, Chief Youth and Innovation Officer, Alisa continues to break down barriers for youth mental health across Canada, while driving transformational change in digital health solutions.
Learn more about the Digital Health Canada Awards here.