Immediate Past President World Federation for Mental Health (South Africa)

Ingrid Daniels has been the Chief Executive Officer at Cape Mental Health, the oldest community-based mental health non-profit organisation (1913) in South Africa, since 2000. She obtained her Master’s in Social Science (Clinical Social Work) and PhD in Social Work at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

She was President of the World Federation for Mental Health for the term 2019 – 2021 and currently is the Immediate Past President of the World Federation for Mental Health. In her role as President, she collaborated with several global mental health organisations including WHO and launched with her team two successful World Mental Health Day events in 2020 and 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She is an active member of the WFMH, Women’s Mental Health Section. She also serves on the Global Mental Health Action Network’s Communications Steering Committee and has recently been appointed to serve on the Global Alliance for Mental Health Advocates (GAMHA) advisory panel. She served on South Africa’s National Mental Health Advisory Committee who advised the National Minister of Health on the implementation of the National Mental Health Policy Framework and Strategic Plan 2013-2020.

She is an Executive Committee and Board member of the South African Federation for Mental Health. She teaches at Bochum University of Applied Sciences, Germany on the International Programme on Diversity and Inclusion and has an extensive resumé of presentations delivered at national and international levels. Ingrid Daniels also served on the Trust Circle Mental Health Advisory Board Council. Trust Circle provides innovative, accessible and affordable mental health mobile technology aimed at increasing access to mental health to millions across the world.

She is committed to addressing global mental health challenges particularly in lower-and middle-income countries and specifically South Africa. She continues to actively advocate and seek creative and innovative solutions to address mental health service delivery gaps to ensure that mental health becomes a reality for all global citizens.