Youth Co-Convenors – iaymh2022

Mads Marius

An energetic Danish young public speaker with a deep love for mental health.

Oluwaferanmi Omitoyin

Oluwaferanmi Omitoyin is a public and mental health advocate. His prevention-first approach to mental and physical health has driven him to contribute immensely to various health outreaches in his local community in Nigeria. He helped start a social enterprise through which young people are regularly being reached out to. He was recognized on Forbes in 2019 as a Gratitude Network Fellow in recognition of his contributions to Child education. He firmly believes in ensuring the younger generation is equipped with enough knowledge to have a positive approach as regards mental health. Ouwaferanmi joined IAYMH in order to help ensure that youth mental health is well protected and promoted in terms of education, advocacy, and possible legislation and policy reviews.

Zaynab Sohawon

Zaynab is a youth mental health advocate based in the UK. Her achievements include wining 5 awards, being a TEDx speaker, a published author, and an Executive youth member at the IAYMH. A documentary was also made about her life as a child in care.She works alongside the Institute for Mental Health and the Wellcome Trust towards youth mental health research, co-producing national suicide prevention guides. She is a mental health speaker, with experience at NHS confederation mental health network, Forward Thinking Birmingham, British Medical Association and the Royal College of Psychiatry. Her lived experience of psychosis, autism and personality disorder is pivotal in her ability to be change she wants to see. Zaynab uses her lived experience to be the person to others that her past self needed. Recently, Zaynab has set up a peer support charity for autistic young people. Throughout all of these endeavours, Zaynab is a university student with aspirations to be a psychiatrist.