Convenings

4th Sozosei Summit to Decriminalize Mental Illness

SAVE THE DATE: April 16–17, 2024

 

The Summit brings together a diverse global audience, including thought leaders, people with lived experience, medical professionals, lawyers, judges, advocates, artists, and funders to build a world where mental illness is not a crime.

Please mark your calendar and sign up here to receive emails regarding Summit registration, Sozosei Foundation news, and other updates. 

We look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia in April 2024. 
 

Past Convenings

June 28, 2023

The Foundation welcomed more than 250 participants to discuss the role of the built environment in decriminalizing mental illness. We were honored to host speakers S. Rebecca Neusteter, PhD, Executive Director of the University of Chicago Health Lab; Katya Fels Smyth, Founder and CEO of Full Frame Initiative; and Clyde Valentin, Co-Artistic Director of One Nation/One Project, in conversation with Melissa M. Beck, Esq., Executive Director of the Sozosei Foundation.

April 14, 2023

The Foundation convened over 60 funders to preview a sizzle reel of a new documentary, COMMITTED. Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmakers Ken Rosenberg, MD, and Peter Miller then engaged in conversation with Melissa M. Beck, Esq., Executive Director of the Sozosei Foundation. Set in Akron, Ohio, the film centers on Judges Elinor Marsh Stormer and Alison Breaux, who preside over civil courts working to ensure people with mental illness have access to care in the community. Learn more about the film here.  

December 5 – 7, 2022

Centered on themes of (Re)Imagining, (Re)Considering, and (Re)Framing, the Summit asked: what is essential to decriminalize mental illness while exploring how to increase access to mental health care in communities throughout the United States.