Normalizing Mental Health in the Workplace
Almost 26 years ago, Adam found his dad, best friend, and business partner Mort Nemer '62 dead by suicide. Unfortunately, the myths and stigmas of mental illness were so strong at that time that Nemer only had a few therapy sessions and went off into the world. After graduating from CMC with a double major in history and government, he got an MBA at the University of Washington, moved back to Portland, got married, and grew a 20-year leadership career at Kaiser Permanente—primarily as a CFO and senior operations executive—all while silently enduring severe, undiagnosed depression and anxiety.
His life changed when a compassionate colleague encouraged him to seek help, a simple act that revealed the profound impact leaders can have on their team’s mental well-being. As Nemer progressed on his recovery journey, he came to the realization that many leaders, though well-meaning, don’t feel at ease approaching their colleagues when they observe them grappling with mental health challenges. They don’t know what to say. They don’t know how to help. So, he started to share his story and quickly realized that he was making a difference in other people’s lives.
Nemer subsequently founded Simple Mental Health, an organization dedicated to educating leaders about the business case for mental health while inspiring them with the human case to destigmatize mental health in their teams.
Nemer and the Simple Mental Health team now work with organizations across the Americas and Europe spreading mental health literacy and helping leaders create stigma-free mental wellbeing cultures.
Mr. Nemer’s Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the Berger Institute for Individual and Social Development at CMC.