347 Author Spotlight Depression Lied To Me : Taimi Allen

Taimi Allan is CEO of Changing Minds, a Charitable NGO governed and operated by people with lived experience of mental distress and addiction. As someone who identifies as having thrived because of, not despite, her own Lived Experience, Taimi champions Lived Experience Leadership and is known for leading with humility and compassion. Amongst other innovative programmes, Taimi envisioned Whakatau Mai, the world’s first peer-supported holistic, online and fully accessible wellbeing sessions, Rākau Roroa, New Zealand’s lived experience leadership initiative, and recoVRy, a Virtual Reality platform that allows the viewer to walk in the shoes of someone experiencing distress. 
Taimi works on mental health system transformation via various strategic governance positions including the Permanent Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission and the Suicide Mortality Review Committee. Featured in M2 Woman Magazine as a global thought-leader, she was awarded a New Zealander of the year Local Hero Medal in 2021.
Taimi’s history in film, theatre and television, means she often uses the arts as a safe vehicle to help audiences understand and see value in challenging experiences. Her creative work includes the world’s first International Mental Health Arts Festival ‘The Big reTHiNK’ as featured in MiNDFOOD Magazine and collaborating on and the annual Atawhai festival.

Learn more about Taimi: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/taimi-allan