Alisa Simon is a Canadian digital mental health leader with more than 30 years of experience in health access, system transformation, innovation and nonprofit leadership. Her work has focused on expanding access to mental health support through scalable digital models, integrated care, service navigation, lived-experience co design, and the use of data and research to improve quality and outcomes. Most recently, Alisa led a large-scale health-system transformation resulting in 350% increase in service delivery.
Over the past two decades, Alisa has helped shape and launch some of Canada’s most significant youth e-mental health innovations, including the country’s first national mental health texting service, a national youth mental health navigation platform, supporting people over 28 million times since 2018. She built Canada’s largest qualitative youth mental health dataset and established an e-mental health applied research team to translate data and evidence into new digital solutions, including responsible AI-enabled e-mental health tools.
As a strong believer that digital mental health must be evidence-informed and shaped by the people who use it, Alisa works across government, research, clinical and community sectors to improve access and design services that better reflect diverse needs. As Vice Chair of Child Helpline International working with helplines globally to provide support to millions of young people.
Before moving to Canada, Alisa held senior U.S. health policy and advocacy roles focused on improving access to care for children, families and underserved communities. She led broad coalitions that expanded children’s health coverage, strengthened youth mental health supports, improved prescription drug access for seniors, and secured public investment to address childhood lead poisoning.
Alisa has been delighted to be part of the eMental Health International Collaborative community since 2019 and is honoured to continue contributing through the Global Leadership Council. Her work has been recognized with the Digital Health Canada Digital Health Executive of the Year Award, Women Leaders in Digital Health recognition, the Change Innovator of the Year Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.