Stopping a strategy and being okay with it! — I’m a big fan of stopping what doesn’t work anymore or giving yourself space to try something new. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, dance was a huge part of my mental health routine, but now I dance a little less.
As a part of our series about Mental Health Champions helping to promote mental wellness, I had the pleasure to interview Lionel Ramazzini.
Lionel is a build-first thinker, passionate about bringing ideas to life and putting prototypes to a user’s hands. Prior to Hopelab Lionel was an Industrial Designer for IDEO.org where he designed for various partners like Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mercy Corps, and USAID. He studied Industrial Design at California College of Arts and focused his efforts on designing for marginalized communities. In his spare time, he loves to read books on race and culture, sketch, and provide a design lens to social impact organizations in Oakland.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?
I grew up in Oakland, CA. My parents immigrated to the United States before I was born and are super progressive. We didn’t have much money, but we had a great community that we treated, and still treat, like family. I learned so much about being in a community, helping others, and learning to ask for help. Asking for help was easily the most valuable lesson I learned growing up. I was also fortunate to be the first person in my family to go to college where I continued my passion for design and social impact.
You are currently leading a social impact organization that is helping to promote mental wellness. Can you tell us a bit about what you or your organization are trying to address?
I’m a Creative Lead at Hopelab, which is a social innovation lab and impact investor working to advance solutions that support, affirm, and empower young people. My background in design and experience working with underserved communities inspires me to push the way we think about designing for social impact here at Hopelab. We advise partners in making their offerings more youth-centric, equitable, and effective — and the key to that is centering their experiences in the design and creation process.
When young people co-create solutions, we support individual and community mental health, healing, and resilience. Most recently at Hopelab, we worked with young people to launch imi, a free, digital, research-backed mental health tool that helps LGBTQ+ teens explore and affirm their identity. We intentionally focused on working with BIPOC, trans, and gender non-conforming youth for our design and research efforts to create and test imi. This ensured that the language used and content central to imi was accessible, relevant, and inclusive.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
When I was a kid, I knew I wanted a job where I “helped,” as I got older I got to work with lots of different communities. From farmers in India to asylum seekers in need of access to resources in Arizona — I realized that working with youth was always fulfilling and fun, and they were excited to collaborate! Now working with Hopelab, I get to co-create with young adults and it’s been exciting to see how putting scientists, designers, and teens together in a room can make some fun (and impactful) stuff!
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest them. They don’t get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger?
I don’t think I had a single “aha moment,” but what I did have was a creative community pretty early. I had teachers introducing me to design and other creative programs, I had friends pushing me and ourselves to be “creatives,” and I had the ability to ask for help. My friends and I were in galleries pretty early, and that exploration allowed us to see what kind of creatives we wanted to be. Where I grew up, the notion of “fake it, till you make it” also helped!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
I am a Creative Lead at Hopelab and do not lead the company; however, the most interesting story that happened to me personally would be the launch of imi. We’ve been developing imi for the past year with Centerlink and It Gets Better Project. We talked to hundreds of teens across the country to make sure the tone and information were relevant. Our other creative lead, Josh Lavra added a quick “feedback” button on the website, so anywhere users wanted to leave feedback they could easily and quickly do so. I was amazed because although we had normal feedback and website bugs reported, we also started getting thank you notes here. It was very touching since I wasn’t expecting this from youth!
None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?
I’m a big believer in the power of community, I grew up in East Oakland in an era where only 1 in 12 kindergarteners would go on to graduate high school. Living through that time made me a big believer in the power of community. People around me did not beat those odds without help, mentors, cheerleaders, and leaders who step up and I always make sure to bring that “step up” attitude to work.
As a Creative Lead, I want to make sure folks have what they need to succeed, especially our interns and junior staff. We once had an intern who didn’t feel like he belonged; he was the first in his family to graduate college and hadn’t seen many people that looked like him in an office environment. I was culturally different from him but had a similar story. We would sit and talk every day during his internship. Today he’s a full-time designer helping to innovate education for millions of young people. He’s now giving back to the community and I’m so proud of him — as a designer and as a man.
According to Mental Health America’s report, over 44 million Americans have a mental health condition. Yet there’s still a stigma about mental illness. Can you share a few reasons you think this is so?
There are a lot of reasons mental health stigma continues. Access to care is an important reason to be aware of, but it’s also important to remember that mental healthcare is rooted in white supremacy and is the source of many current issues.
Evidence-based mental health therapy was developed from a White, Eurocentric perspective, and treatment validation (even until 2001) was studied on predominantly white populations. Culturally responsive mental health care is essential to destigmatizing mental health conditions and what care looks like for different cultures. I think it’s important to research what works for different communities and to have folks from those communities leading that research. We all benefit from this diverse research, and it’s easier to respond to someone who says mental illness is a “white people thing.” It’s an all-people thing, and we can all do our part to help fight that stigma.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, a “gold standard” for white folks, might not work for Black populations and what works for them might not be most effective at delivering coping skills for first-generation, Asian Americans of Thai descent, for example.
In your experience, what should a) individuals b) society, and c) the government do to better support people suffering from mental illness?
It is well documented that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are less likely than whites to seek mental health treatment. And when they do, it is not always from a mental health specialist, but sometimes from an informal source of care like a clergy person, traditional healer, friend, or family member. No surprise really, when you hear the statistics on mistrust of clinicians; 45% of African Americans and 38% of Latinos in comparison with 55% of whites, felt that a health care provider treated them badly because of their race or ethnic background. (LaVeist et al., 2000) We need to do better. Researchers need to incorporate LGBTQ+, People of Color, and others with intersectional identities into the study of evidence-based therapies. And care providers should be equipped with training to understand the role white supremacy plays in the mental health system and how therapists and other non-traditional care providers can work together to provide culturally competent and responsive mental health care.
Another answer is empathy, real empathy. The kind that doesn’t run out when it gets tough. I’d tell that to any elected official, to any group of people, and to any individual. I don’t know where I’d be if there weren’t people who just had empathy.
What are your 5 strategies you use to promote your own wellbeing and mental wellness? Can you please give a story or example for each?
Breathing — I have asthma, so I learned to pay attention to my breath. Early in life it literally was life and death. Today, I do breathing exercises not for my lungs but for my brain and well-being. To stop, breathe, and allow your brain to feel what it needs to feel.
Talking! — I’m a community-oriented person, I have friends and family that I trust and love. I’m fortunate that I can text a friend that I’m having a hard time and can expect a phone call later. At first, it was hard, and I even got push back from a few other guy friends who wanted me to “man up.” But today those guys reach out to me for their own mental health! It can be hard but breaking that stigma at home can help!
Drawing and leaning into what works for you — I’m a big doodler; anyone in a board meeting with me might get a small portrait drawn on a post-it note. It wasn’t until I had a mentor (shout out to Julia Benini) at IDEO.org who told me it was a concentration superpower! She had noticed that when I drew, I was actually paying more attention. Today I tell people to lean into what helps them.
There’s power in a walk — Working from home can sometimes feel like you’re in a small room all day. I’ve learned that a good walk can really help with decision-making, feeling better, or even letting out some frustration. Plus, it’s a great time to pick up the phone and talk with a friend! Two strategies at once!
Stopping a strategy and being okay with it! — I’m a big fan of stopping what doesn’t work anymore or giving yourself space to try something new. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, dance was a huge part of my mental health routine, but now I dance a little less.
What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that inspire you to be a mental health champion?
I truly haven’t found inspiration for my mental health in resources like these. For me, it’s more about disconnecting from my screen, especially since I’m in so many Zoom rooms. I also find inspiration in connecting with folks who work in the mental health space, especially my friends and former colleagues Michael Fu, Jjhaz, and Stephanie Greer.
If you could tell other people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
So much is happening in the world that it can be overwhelming or easy to be cynical. I think the best thing about doing something positive is that it helps fight those two things. You’re going to meet people that push their positivity onto you, and then you do it for someone else, it creates a cycle I’ve seen so many times. I think it can be easy to look at the news and get deeply frustrated or sad. I’ve found that getting out there and doing something just helps you as much as it helps others.
How can our readers follow you online?
Don’t follow me, follow Hopelab and learn about how we’re working to support, affirm, and empower young people with new products like imi! You can also follow us on LinkedIn and you’ll see what we’ve been putting lots of hard work into.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Thank you!
Mental Health Champions: Why & How Lionel Ramazzini Is Helping To Champion Mental Wellness was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.