Mia Atoui is a Clinical Psychologist and the Co-founder and President of Embrace, a leading mental health NGO in Lebanon. Mia has a Master’s degree in Public Health and a Master’s degree in clinical psychology from the American University of Beirut. She has worked in the field of mental health in Lebanon for the past 10 years and is a published researcher in the field. Since 2013, she has been active in addressing stigma, awareness and accessibility of mental health care in Lebanon working in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health and multiple local and international organizations to lobby for equity of care in mental health, quality rights for persons with lived experience with mental illness, and implementing projects across sectors with the aim of improving mental well-being of individuals and communities. She has extensive experience in suicide prevention in Lebanon and has been leading and advocating for Lebanon’s National Emotional Support and Suicide Prevention and Helpline in Lebanon - Embrace LifeLine (1564). She is an active member in civil society and conducts trainings to local communities and organizations across Lebanon to build the capacities of first responders and health professionals in detection and prevention of mental illness, suicide, and psychological resilience among various vulnerable groups in the community.

Dr. Pia Zeinoun is currently the Vice President of Embrace, who along with the Embrace team has contributed to the strategic expansion of the organization. Dr. Zeinoun has initiated and led several projects including the establishment of the Embrace research hub, and most notably the Embrace Mental Health Center in 2021 – a full multidisciplinary clinical center and university-affiliated training program. From 2016 to 2021, Dr. Zeinoun served as Assistant Professor of Psychology at the American University of Beirut’s Department of Psychology, while prior to that she co-founded and led the Psychological Assessment Center at the AUB Medical Center since 2013. Clinically, Dr. Zeinoun specializes in the evaluation and treatment of children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental and acquired disorders. Her research includes more than 30 peer-reviewed publications focused on cross-cultural and indigenous measurements of clinical symptoms and personality. Her education includes graduate training at the Johns Hopkins/Kennedy Krieger Institute in Maryland, USA, a PhD in Psychology from Tilburg University in the Netherlands, while prior to that she had a Fulbright sojourn at Illinois State University, where she obtained a master’s degree in Clinical & Counseling Psychology. She is a member of the Lebanese Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, and International Test Commission, and serves as an associate editor academic journal.

Farah Yehia is a health services and policy researcher and currently serves as a healthcare consulting manager in the GCC region. She earned her PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where her research focused on pharmaceutical drug access and affordability in the US and low-to-middle income countries. Prior to that, she worked for 3 years on mental health research, financing, and policy reforms in Lebanon at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. During that time she helped co-found Embrace where she worked closely on the inception of the region’s first suicide prevention helpline. Farah has published her work in leading scientific journals including Health Affairs, JAMA Internal Medicine and the American Journal of Managed Care and was recently awarded the Delta Omega International Honor in recognition of excellence in research, practice and academic achievement.