Princeton, NJ, June 20, 2024 — The Sozosei Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Otsuka, announced its Spring 2024 grantee partners. This round of grants will award $2,169,000 to 36 organizations to increase access to mental healthcare to end the inappropriate use of the carceral system as treatment for mental illness.
Princeton, NJ, April 8, 2024— The Sozosei Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Otsuka dedicated to the decriminalization of mental illness, will gather the nation’s most creative, impactful leaders in mental health at the 2024 Sozosei Summit to Decriminalize Mental Illness on April 16 and 17. Taking place at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the Summit offers a unique landscape for attendees to spark and engage in thought-provoking conversations surrounding access to mental healthcare, focusing on intersectional, data driven decriminalization strategies.
FEBRUARY 2024 – As I look forward to the 2024 Sozosei Summit to Decriminalize Mental Illness from April 16-17, 2024, and our March 1, 2024, Virtual Convening on 988, I am reminded that convenings can be a philanthropic superpower. Ideally, they foster collaboration, provide a landscape to share insights, and kick-start or advance common goals. When they are at their best, convenings can help develop meaningful and actionable solutions. Of course, convenings can also fall short.
The Foundation recently kicked off a series of Global Solution Labs to surface more knowledge and perspectives about how to create a future where mental illness is not treated as a crime. Over 50 multidisciplinary “Solutionists” gathered on May 7, 2021, to take on the ambitious task of identifying the top solutions to move the needle on the decriminalization of mental illness.
In the spirit of collaboration, we recently hosted a Virtual Book Club featuring authors and renowned psychiatrist Dr. James Knoll and renowned psychologist Dr. Joel Dvoskin. Led by Sozosei Board Member, Mary Chi Michael, Dr. Knoll and Dr. Dvoskin discussed their contribution to the recently released book, “Decriminalizing Mental Illness” with more than 100 attendees.