We take Mental Health Awareness Month seriously at GPJ, across leadership and departments alike. Not only is it vital that our global teams have a safe and supportive work environment, but our experiences and attendees are treated with the same consideration and care, too. Explore the initiatives we’ve pursued this May as we continue to engage and educate ourselves and our clients on mental health worldwide.
SLOWDOWN SUMMIT WITH ASHTON WILLIAMS
In preparation for Mental Health Awareness Month, Ashton Williams—co-leader of GPJ MIND, an employee resource group dedicated to raising awareness, providing support, and fostering understanding of neurodiversity within the agency—attended the 2026 Slowdown Summit in Columbus, Ohio. As a Leadership Development Conference for introverted, creative, and neurodivergent professionals, Ashton brought home several nuggets of wisdom to share and implement into future internal and external experiences. Take a look at what stuck with Ashton the most:
“Neurodivergence during Mental Health Awareness Month means recognizing that well-being does not have a one-size-fits-all solution. For many neurodivergent people, mental health is deeply connected to accessibility, sensory safety, communication styles, burnout, masking, and whether environments are designed with inclusion in mind.
Something I’m still thinking about weeks after the Slowdown Summit is that burnout can look like success from the outside. For neurodivergent people, the idea of “hustle culture” not only leads to burnout, but it can reinforce the belief that resting or accommodations are personal failures instead of valid human needs. Glorifying extra-long days only adds to the idea that we must accept 16+ hour work days are expected as the norm.
Awareness matters, but creating spaces where people can participate authentically without constantly adapting themselves matters even more, and that’s what the Slowdown Summit did. Creating inclusive environments means people don’t need to sacrifice their well-being for success.“
While ensuring our experiences are inclusive environments for all of our attendees has been a top priority of GPJ’s, this is a great reminder for our teams and clients to keep pursuing accessibility for each of our events so that everyone has the opportunity to Experience Everything. Thank you, Ashton!
GPJ LONDON MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK
With the theme of ‘Take Action,’ GPJ London took on Mental Health Awareness Month with a full week of activities. We love seeing how our offices celebrate and raise awareness around mental health around the world—check out GPJ London’s week below!
Monday: The ‘Take Action’ Cuppa
Schedule a 15-minute tea break with a colleague and ask how they are actually doing.
Tuesday: Wellbeing Sessions
Hannah Regan, Talent and Culture representative for GPJ London, hosted two Wellbeing Benefit Info Sessions to deep-dive into GPJ’s Unum and BUPA offerings.
Wednesday: The GPJ Power Walk
Members of the office went out on a 45-minute team walk to soak up some vitamin D.
Thursday: The Showstopper — Choir, Cake & Conversation
Charity partners Blackfriars Settlement visited with their Nightingales Choir for a live performance (and sing-along). Afterwards, we hosted the choir elders for scones and chats.
THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS WITH BRIAN DUBOW
Earlier in May, Brian Dubow—Founder & CEO of Hit of Happiness—shared The Secret to Happiness live at GPJ LA in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.
GPJers enjoyed an afternoon with Brian as he educated the team on the science of happiness. And get this—Brian has a literal certification in Happiness Studies! GPJ LA had an absolute blast hanging out with and learning from Brian as he shared his passion for health, wellbeing, and teaching others how to lead intentional and fulfilling lives.
ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIVE DESIGN IN EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING PANEL
This month, GPJ MIND featured a panel of GPJers who focus on accessibility to explore how inclusive thinking is being embedded across disciplines, teams, and programs of all sizes.
As we learned with Ashton and the Slowdown Summit, accessibility affects mental health in a variety of ways—and not always positively. That’s why accessibility is a shared responsibility amongst all team members at GPJ. If we design for variability from the beginning, we’re able to address the needs of our attendees more confidently and completely. Thanks to initiatives like GPJ MIND, we continue to learn about new ways to design for accessibility and variability.
We hope that everyone had a mindful, meaningful, and educational Mental Health Awareness Month. To Experience Everything, we need to do great work. And to do great work, our mental health must be a top priority. What are other ways you prioritize care throughout the year?
